


Unlost

by Raberba girl (Raberba_girl)



Series: All my alternate universe Kingdom Hearts fanfiction [10]
Category: Kingdom Hearts, Rurouni Kenshin
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crossover, F/M, Family, Friendship, Gen, Organization XIII - Freeform, Romance, Twilight Town
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-10-11
Updated: 2014-12-27
Packaged: 2017-12-25 01:49:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 37,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/947177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raberba_girl/pseuds/Raberba%20girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabbles and one-shots focusing on Kenshin, Tomoe, Enishi, and Kenji in various combinations (no slash). New chapter: Bad as it's been for Kenji ever since he lost his parents, Enishi has had it worse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Enemy Hands {Enishi & Kenji}

In Enemy Hands

A Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl

 

Summary:  Kenshin and Kaoru search for their kidnapped son, a toddler who has ended up in the care of...Yukishiro Enishi. Who was not anticipating either the baby-sitting or the injured leg on his quest to make amends.

 

A/N:  "Neesan" is a less formal version of "Oneesan," which means "big sister."  "Niichan" is derived from "Oniisan," which is "big brother."  The terms are not limited to actual family members.

 

o.o.o

"Neesan!  I don't want to do this!"

 

Whining again.

 

Enishi closed his eyes and raised a hand, imagining his sister patting him on the head and telling him that he was much too old to be acting silly.  "I don't even know why I'm doing this, anyway...."

 

It was not like anyone told him to.  It was just that he had tried everything else, and there was a very small chance that seeing Himura Kenshin again might finally silence the gnawing guilt that had been threatening to devour him.  "It hurts...."  Either that, or Himura would kill him and put him out of his misery.  _'But he doesn't kill people anymore,_ apparently _.'_   One of Himura's minions, then.  Maybe the man with bamboo-curtain hair.  "Sis, is that really the right thing to do?"

 

No answer.  He was getting a lot of that these days.

 

"Hold still, you little brat!"  The peaceful autumn afternoon was spoiled by a harsh shout.  Enishi frowned and stopped walking.  The voice sounded similar to ones he had been hearing a lot lately, from random thugs who were too stupid to realize that it was a bad idea to try to mug or pick a fight with Yukishiro Enishi.  "Aaargh!  Boss, he _bit_ me!"

 

"Knock his teeth out, then!  Teach the brat a lesson."

 

A third voice, "Boss...you know whose kid this is...that might not be the best idea...."

 

"Don't tell me whose kid this is, why d'ya think we nabbed him in the first place?  Get out of the way, I'll do it myself!"

 

The furious screams of a child, wailing in the background all this time, now reached a crescendo.  Enishi sighed.  Then he mumbled, "I know, I know.  You don't have to say anything, Neesan."  He laid a hand on his sword hilt and headed off the path into the trees, where the voices were coming from.

 

He soon came upon five big, meaty-looking men clustered around a small center of attention.  Enishi took one look at the little boy's dark red hair and blazing eyes, then forgot to breathe for a second.  _'It can't be....'_

 

 _"Enishi.  The child is in danger."_   The echoes of his sister's voice spurred him on again.  Enishi's eyes narrowed as he marched forward decisively.  "Hey.  Let go of him."

 

After the usual derisive snorts, arrogant threats, brief sword swiping, and inevitable bone crushing and pants-wetting, Enishi stood looking down at the boy, who obliviously screamed on.  "Oi.  Shut up, kid.  You're safe."

 

The child could not have been more than two or three years old.  For a moment he fixed furious eyes on the newcomer, then lunged forward and bit down hard on the hand that Enishi had started reaching out to him.

 

"Yeowch!!"  Those small jaws were as tenacious as a bulldog's.  The child refused to be dislodged, no matter how hard Enishi tried to shake him off.

 

Tomoe's voice in his mind was giggling.  "It's not funny!"  On second thought, she did have reason find it so.  "At least I had a good excuse to bite your stupid husband back then!"  Now yelling at Himura's child, "Look, kid, I just _saved_ you!  Let go!"

 

A couple of the thugs stirred.  One of them groaned out, "The kid...where's the kid...?"

 

At the sound of his voice, the child suddenly froze.  His tiny fingers gripped Enishi's shirt; then he turned and growled like a dog at the thugs.  "Bad!  Go away!"

 

Enishi sighed.  Then he scooped up the boy, strode forward, kicked the thug in the head, and returned to the road with the child still in his arms.  He marched on for a while, lost in angry thoughts; he still got too inconveniently pumped up by fights.  Presently, however, he was distracted by the touch of small hands on his face.  He slowed and looked down in surprise at the red-haired boy, who was patting at him curiously and babbling infant nonsense.

 

"Um.  Hi."

 

The boy gazed up at him solemnly.  "Bad men gone."

 

"Yeah."

 

"Hungry."

 

"...Here.  You can eat my lunch."  Enishi was used to going hungry.  He dug through his pack and fished out the food, which the boy inspected for a minute and then promptly dropped in disgust.  "Hey!"  And of course, over the next hour or two, the kid put up such a fuss over being hungry that at last Enishi couldn't stand it anymore and handed over his dinner, too.  "Stupid little brat."

 

"Stupid little brat," the Himura boy repeated happily, biting into the edible chunks he had been given.

 

They kept on the move until twilight, when Enishi glanced down at the drowsing, increasingly heavy burden in his arms and decided that it was time to call it a night.  The child would need a fire, which was more difficult to make in the dark.  Enishi retreated from the road, laid the child carefully on the grass, then worked at starting a fire.

 

It happened when the blaze was sparked and he had gone off to hunt up some extra firewood.  Yukishiro Enishi was taken down, not by armed enemies, but by treacherous footing.  "Aaaarrghhh!"

 

One long tumble and one dizzy headache later, Enishi unsteadily raised his face and found himself in a heap at the base of a boulder.  At the bottom of a hill.  That had been pretty much invisible in the dark, which was broken only by the flicker of firelight at the top of the hill.  "Amusing."  He shifted, and immediately fell still again when his leg screamed in protest.  "Argh!  Help me out, Sis!"

 

It was not his sister's voice that answered, but the high-pitched sound of the boy sleepily calling for him.  "Niichan?"

 

"Here," Enishi groaned irritably.

 

The firelight was partially blocked by the boy's small shape.  "Niichan?"

 

"Hey...hey, get back from there!" Enishi called up.

 

There was a cry, and then startled yelps as the boy came skidding down the hill.

 

"Kid!"  Enishi reared up on his elbows, but it was too late.  "Oof!"  The kid had crashed into him.  Better that than the boulder, he supposed.  "Oi, kid!"

 

The Himura boy made a drawling noise that sounded like, "Baaaaw...."  The reflective glimmers in his eyes flickered as he blinked, and then he started scrambling around.  "Again!"

 

"Wha...again?  No, not again!"

 

The boy was already trying to crawl back up the hill, yelling excitedly.  Enishi gritted his teeth and forced himself to roll over, where he lay groaning for a minute before dragging himself after him.  "Oi...kid...listen to me, will you...?"

 

"Again, Niichan!"

 

"What are you, stupid?!"

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

"...You wouldn't have told me about this, would you."

 

Kenshin paused in the doorway, staring out at his wife in surprise.  "Oro?"  He had no clue what she could be mad about.  He was pretty sure he hadn't forgotten anything too important...like their anniversary or something...had he?

 

"Don't 'oro' me!"  Kaoru whirled to face him, and he realized from her expression that something terrible had happened.  This was not her usual endearing temper - there was terror in her eyes, beneath the anger.  "You!"  She flung something at him - a sheet of paper, crumpled from the strength of her grip.  "If _you_ had found this first, you wouldn't have told me!  You would have gone off and _left me behind_!"

 

"K-Kaoru-dono...what are you...?"  By that time he had bent to pick up the paper, and had started to read it, and his voice trailed off.  His eyes narrowed.  The message was slowly crumpled in his fist.  Then he dropped the note and plunged out into the yard, raging silently at this sick summons he had been forced to obey over and over again.  _Come to us, or your loved one suffers...._

Tomoe.  Kaoru.  Now Kenji.

 

He did not pause, even when he sensed his wife following close on his heels.  She was wrong.  He was not going to leave her behind ever again.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Enishi was absolutely disgusted with himself.  He had _told_ his incompetent body to stay awake all night, and usually it obeyed.  Yet here he was, being awakened by sunlight shining in his face.  Perhaps the pain had something to do with it....

 

Oh yeah.  His leg.  Rendered utterly useless by a moment of - clumsiness.  "You're so pathetic, Yukishiro!" he shouted at himself.  There was no time to dwell on that, though, because something else was nagging him.  Something important, some reason why he should not be wasting time, lying here wallowing in self-disgust--

 

"Yucky!"

 

Enishi's head jerked up, just in time for him to see the Himura boy, face scrunched up in disgust, pushing away a live frog that he had apparently just attempted to chew on.  "For crying out loud, what do you think you're doing?"

 

"Niichan!"  It was astonishing, how Enishi lost his breath at the way that little face lit up.  The child struggled to his feet and toddled over to his new big brother.  "Hungry!"

 

Enishi grumbled a word that the boy's parents would probably want kill him for uttering in front of their child.  "You are not getting my breakfast, too."

 

"Shinai."  The boy had thankfully been distracted - by Enishi's sword, unthankfully.  He tugged at the hilt with interest.

 

"Oi, leave that alone!  And it's not a shinai."

 

"Big shinai."

 

Enishi was not very inventive when it came to baby-sitting, so he ended up giving the boy most of his breakfast after all, as a distraction from the sword.  His stomach growled even after he had gulped down the remaining mouthful or two, which seemed to amuse the boy.  "Monster in Niichan's tummy!"  The child pressed his ear against Enishi's stomach, giggling when the strange noises groaned out again.

 

"...I have to get rid of you.  ASAP."  Which was going to be a problem, considering his stupid leg.

 

Enishi tried to stand up, and succeeded - after a full two or three minutes of effort.  By that time the Himura boy had gotten bored and wandered off, so that Enishi could only pray that the child would not get into trouble before he could round him up again.  "Argh...if I wasn't on my way to see your murderer of a father anyway, you'd be on your _own_."

 

Horizontal movement was possible, but only by clinging to trees and sort of handing himself off from one to another.  That was definitely not going to cut it.  "This sucks!"

 

"Niichan!  Sucks?"

 

Enishi glared.  "For my sister's sake, I am going to pretend that those were two completely unrelated remarks, you little brat."

 

The boy had wandered back, now studying Enishi with curiosity and obviously wondering what sort of game Big Brother was up to now.  "Tag!"

 

" _Not_ tag."

 

Laughing, the child danced forward and whacked Enishi on the knee.  Then he fled, screaming with laughter.

 

"Ugghh...."  There, about two body lengths away, was a nice-looking stick, thick and long and relatively straight.  _'Walking stick,'_ Enishi thought hungrily.

 

The boy had come creeping back, looking puzzled and displeased.  "Niichan play," he said accusingly.

 

"Not now, kid."  Preoccupied, Enishi flopped back to the ground and started dragging himself over to his prize.  He did not see the boy's face light up in sudden comprehension.

 

"Stick!"

 

Enishi's eyes darted to the child in alarm.  "Oi, don't try anything funny--"

 

The boy galloped over to the stick and triumphantly hefted one end of it.  "Niichan's stick!"

 

"Give me that!"

 

"Niichan get stick!"  Laughing, the evil little fox began dragging the stick away.

 

"Don't you dare!"

 

"Nyah!"

 

Luckily for Enishi, the stick was too heavy for the boy's little arms, and he had not gotten very far with it before he was caught.

 

"Gotcha!"

 

"Aaaaahhhh!!!"

 

" _My_ stick!"  Enishi swept it up in triumph, holding the child back with his other hand.

 

"GRR!"

 

"Yeowch!"  The little brat had bitten him _again_.  And was giggling, too.  "I'm not playing, you little monster!"

 

"Growwwl!"  Apparently now pretending to be a monster, the boy seized Enishi's sleeve in his teeth, worrying at it and flailing his harmless little nails.

 

Ignoring him, Enishi pulled out his knife and began making adjustments to his hard-won stick, trying to make it as useful as possible.  This was not very easy, since the boy was instantly enchanted with his knife.  "Gimme sword!"

 

"No."

 

"I want sword!"

 

"It's _my_ sword, you little twit!  And it's not a sword, it's a knife!"

 

"Bad Niichan!"

 

"Bad monster!"

 

"Grr!"

 

"Grr!"

 

" _Grrr!_ "

 

"GRRRRR!!!"

 

The boy paused, open-mouthed, obviously impressed.  Then, apparently refusing to be outdone, he opened his mouth to suck in a huge breath.  "GGGGGGRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

"YOU CANNOT HAVE MY KNIFE!"

 

The little face turned red.  Then the boy sat down on the ground, opened his mouth, and screamed.

 

Enishi stared for a minute in surprise, then uncomfortably went back to working on his walking stick, since he did not see how the kid could possibly have gotten injured enough to scream like that.  He suspected that the boy was not hurt at all, but was doing one of those...what did Tomoe used to call them?  Tantrums, that was it.  "Oi, shut up," he mumbled after a while, because the sound was getting on his nerves.

 

Tossing the walking stick testingly in his hand, he then braced it on the ground and climbed to his feet.  He tried to take a few steps, and decided that it was marginally better than hopping from tree to tree.

 

The boy was still screaming, though he sounded hoarse and a little tired by now.  Enishi looked down at him.  "Are you finished?"

 

"Hate you!" the child shouted up at him.

 

This was really getting irritating.  "I hate you, too."

 

Enishi put out what was left of the fire, gathered up his things, and then started to hobble away, fuming and slightly at a loss.  He had the vague sense that he shouldn't really abandon a small child in the middle of nowhere, even though every single one of his inclinations was urging him to.  Yet how was he supposed to bring along a kid who did not want to come with him, when he was barely in good enough shape to even transport himself?

 

He had gotten a few steps away when the bawling died down, and he listened to the silence in mild amazement as he continued on.  Finally he heard an uncertain voice quaver behind him.  "Niichan?"

 

Enishi could not think of anything to say, so he said nothing, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other.  _Blast_ that hill, he had never felt so useless in his life.

 

"N-Niichan!"  There was a sudden scrambling, and then something crashed into the back of his knees.

 

Enishi, caught off balance, howled as he was sent sprawling to the ground.  "Whaddaya think you're _doing_?!"

 

"Don't go!  Niichan, don't go!" the boy wailed.

 

"For crying out loud...."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Behind a disreputable drinking establishment on the outskirts of town, much pain was happening.

 

"Wait!  Wait!  I'll tell you, just please stop!"

 

Kenshin paused, reluctantly, and mostly because his hands were starting to hurt.  He realized that it was because he had forgotten to use his sword and had simply been punching the man as hard as he could.  He could not remember ever being this angry, and it felt good - or at least, it would have if the situation was not so terrifyingly urgent.  Kenji.  He had to find Kenji, had to make this scum spill his guts about the boy's location before...before....

 

He was having trouble seeing, too.  Everything was swimming in shades of red and gold; perhaps he had blood in his eyes - but no, his face was dry.  "Where is my son?" he snarled into the man's face.

 

"I...I...don't know," was the whimpered response.

 

Kenshin hit him again.

 

"Wait!  Wait!  I know who took him!"

 

" _You_ took him!  _You took my son_!"

 

"Wait," the man gasped desperately.  "Wait - we w-wanted revenge on Himura B-Battousai, but...but it went wrong, we lost the kid...."

 

"Kenshin.  Let him talk first, _then_ you can hurt him."

 

Kenshin tilted his head in brief puzzlement, then remembered.  Kaoru.  He glanced over and found her coming toward him, leaving a groaning pile of men sprawled behind her.  For a moment he allowed pride to touch his heart, at the way she had so effortlessly taken down six men twice her size.  Then he turned his attention back to the thug in his grip.

 

"Where.  Is.  Our.  _Son_."

 

"White hair," the thug gasped.  "H-He had white hair, glasses--  He was strong!  He took out all of us in just a few--  Ow!"

 

Kenshin had dropped the man, feeling like all the breath had been knocked out of him.  For a moment his mind seemed to drift free of his body, the horror was so unbearable.

 

"Kenshin!  _We have to find him_!"  Kaoru's voice rose to a panicked scream as she gripped his arm and shook him.  " _We have to find Kenji before Yukishiro kills him_!"

 

Now Kenshin was the one screaming.  "Where?!" he shouted at the man, kicking him when he did not receive an instant answer.  "Where did they go?!"

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

It was no use.  Kenshin and Kaoru combed the woods until it was too dark to see, and even then they kept on, hoarsely shouting Kenji's name, circling back to the streets and asking everyone if they had seen the little boy, or a man with white hair and glasses--

 

"Oh?  Thought he was a guest o' yers."

 

Kenshin and Kaoru stared at the man, who was comfortably smoking a pipe.  "What?"

 

The man shrugged.  "Ya know.  Had yer young'un with him; thought maybe he was visitin'."

 

"Kenji," Kaoru gasped.  "Kenji was with him?  Please, was Kenji all right?"

 

The man laughed.  "Seemed fine to me."  He was about to elaborate about how the child had seemed far better off than his pathetically limping companion, who had rather rudely refused the offer of help and a place to rest, but the frantic couple gave him no chance to speak.

 

"Which way were they headed?!  Did he say anything?!"

 

"Well, he asked directions to yer dojo...."  The man watched in surprise as the two warriors took off down the street.  Then he rolled his eyes and spat on the ground in disappointment.  "Young people these days, always in a rush, no time to chat...."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kaoru lost sight of her husband quickly, since she was no match for his speed and he showed no inclination to wait for her.  "Kenshin," she tried to call after him.  "Kenshin...."  He was leaving her behind again.  " _Kenshin_!" she screamed.

 

He slowed a little, then stopped and whirled to face her, his eyes still glowing.  "Please wait outside," he said quietly.

 

She came up to him, breathing hard.  "Kenshin...."

 

"Please, Kaoru-dono.  Let this one go first."

 

She looked into his face, and finally nodded.  "But I'm not going to just stand there if you can use my help."

 

He suddenly moved forward, took her hands and kissed her lightly.  They approached the dojo together and paused just outside.

 

"The doors are still locked."

 

"That means little."

 

There was a long pause as neither of them made a move for the door handle.  "Kenshin?"

 

"They're in there," he whispered.  "Kenji is still alive.  He is not in distress."

 

Still he did not move forward.  Kaoru finally slipped behind him and put her arms around his shoulders.  "Kenshin?" she murmured.

 

He reached up with one hand to grasp her arm, as if drawing courage from her.  "What are we going to find when we open this door?" he whispered.  "So many times...this one is not sure how much more he can...."

 

"Kenshin," she said softly, stroking his cheek, "don't you know that you fight at your best when you are fighting for those you love?  Don't think it's not worth it, having other people to love and protect.  You've _never_ failed me, and I know you never will."

 

He turned around and held her tightly for a minute.  Then he took a deep breath and entered the grounds.

 

There did not seem to be anything amiss until they reached the living quarters - an outer door was open, the room lit by the flickering glow of firelight.  Kenshin motioned Kaoru back and edged close, hand grasping the hilt of his sword as he glanced inside....

 

He stood for what seemed a very long time, just looking.  Kaoru watched his hand on his weapon, and when she saw it relax just the tiniest bit, she finally came up softly so that she could see as well.

 

Kenji was fast asleep.  The child, head back and drooling shamelessly through light snores, was sprawled in the lap of an adult figure.  The man who held him was also asleep, one crudely bandaged leg stretched out, the other bent up to support both a sword and the limply dangling arm that cradled it.  The other arm lay on the floor, palm-up, as if it had fallen.  The face had been veiled by strands of silver hair, yet in that moment the hanging head suddenly lifted, revealing two burning eyes and a tight mouth.

 

Kaoru gasped; Kenshin shoved her away and dropped into battle stance.

 

Nothing happened for a long moment.  Then Enishi closed his eyes and grimaced, as if suppressing a yawn; his doll-like pose coiled back into one of wakeful life.  There was another pause as he glared into the fire.  Then he sighed, looked at the child in his lap, and gave Kenji a hard nudge.  "Oi.  Wake up."

 

The boy snorted and rolled over, fussing a little as he buried his face in the man's stomach.  Enishi frowned.  "Wake _up_."  He laid down his sword in order to have both hands to grasp the child and haul him up to a semi-standing position, facing his parents.

 

"Mragh!" Kenji yelled, squirming a little.  When he found it impossible to lay down again, he cracked open his eyes, with his mouth open for a tantrum.  Then he saw his parents and went still, head cocked a little as if puzzled.

 

"Kenji," Kaoru could not help whispering, her voice a near sob.

 

Enishi very carefully settled the boy's weight on his feet and then slowly let go.  Kenji swayed and abruptly plopped down onto his bottom, blinked, then began crawling toward his parents as if he had never learned how to walk.  Halfway there he gave up, lay down on the ground and curled up again, making incoherent sleepy noises.

 

Kaoru could not stand it anymore; she rushed forward and snatched up her child, eyes on Enishi the whole time as she backed away again.  To her relief and confusion, Enishi did not move, simply watched her.  Her arms tightened around Kenji as the boy snuggled happily against her.

 

"What did you come here for?" Kenshin asked in a low, tight voice once his family was safely behind him.

 

Enishi scowled at the ground.  "...Found your kid.  Thought you'd want him back."

 

There was a long, wary silence.  Finally Enishi leaned forward with a muffled grunt and began working at his bandaged leg, gingerly trying to unstiffen it.  Kenshin and Kaoru watched, at a loss, as he eventually managed to climb to his feet with difficulty.  "Look," he finally ground out, "I didn't plan to bust my leg, it was an accident.  If it wasn't for the kid, I wouldn't've come at all.  I would've waited 'til I stopped being a freaking cripple."

 

His expression, as he continued scowling at the ground, unable to meet their eyes, suddenly struck Kenshin as childish.  He looked more like a sullen, hurt teenager than like a warrior bent on revenge.  "You would have waited to heal - then what?" Kenshin asked warily.

 

Enishi licked his lips.  Then he raised his face to them, his eyes almost painfully intense.  "I...wanted to...."  He looked away again.  "My sister," he suddenly burst out, apparently addressing the wall, "would not...would not have wanted me to - take revenge on you.  I...shouldn't have hurt you.  ...I was wrong."

 

There was a long moment of silence.  Then Enishi suddenly slumped, braced his back against the wall and slid back to the ground, looking defeated.  "I just wanted to tell you that," he whispered, pulling his good knee back up and resting his forehead against it.

 

Kenshin, motioning for Kaoru to stay back, finally approached.  He stood over the younger man, looking down at the slumped shoulders and slack hands.  "So you read your sister's diary."

 

"...Yes."  The tears came then.  Kenshin and Kaoru exchanged a glance.  Then he sat down by his brother to keep him silent company, as Kaoru took Kenji with her to safety.  Complete trust would take years to grow, but the seeds of it were planted...or perhaps they had been planted long ago.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Ten-year-old Himura Kenji stared aghast at the torn hair ribbon in his hands.  He was wondering whether he should confess to his mother and get it over with, or tell her that his dad had done it, when a soft rustling alerted him.

 

He quickly balled up the ribbon in his fists and then centered his attention on the point of the dojo wall where he had heard the sound, trying to focus his senses.  The stupid training was finally starting to have some effect, because he sensed a presence:  too focused of spirit to be an animal, disciplined enough to be a swordsman; no ill intent; in fact, it was beginning to feel awfully familiar....

 

A tall, lithe figure dropped down inside the dojo wall, straightened, and rested a sword casually across broad shoulders.

 

"Uncle--!" Kenji started to gasp in delight, then broke off as he darted glances around the yard.  There was no one else, so he ran quickly to Enishi and yanked to get him to bend his head.  "Hey," he whispered urgently in the other's ear, "me and Kakeru were trying to play a joke on Mom, but then her _ribbon_ tore and Kakeru ditched me and she's gonna come out here any minute and find out, and--!"

 

As if on cue, Kaoru's voice could be heard calling from the living quarters.  "Kenji?  Kenji, where are you?  I need you to go shopping for me!"

 

"We'll take care of it, Sis," Enishi called, deftly extracting the ribbon from Kenji's hands and tucking it away into his pocket.

 

"Oh?  Enishi, are you out there, too?"  Kaoru came to the door and saw Enishi standing casually in the yard with her son, who looked...flushed and antsy.  "Kenji, what have you been up to?" she asked suspiciously.

 

"Nothing!" the boy burst out.  "We'll get you tofu and soy sauce, and, uh, rice and stuff; see you Mom, bye!"  He grabbed his uncle's arm and towed him out to the street, as Kaoru watched, frowning.

 

"Kenji, wait...!"

 

"You're not gonna be able to hide it forever," Enishi pointed out as they headed for the market.

 

The boy, working hard to both keep up with his uncle's long strides and make it look like it cost no effort, shot back in a slightly breathless voice, "Who says?"

 

Enishi smiled a little.  "My sister could always see through me when I tried to pull one over on her.  Your mom already knows something's up."

 

"Buy me another ribbon, then!" Kenji insisted.  "One that looks _exactly_ like Mom's, so she'll never know the difference."

 

"That ribbon," Enishi said, "has sentimental value.  Believe me, _they can tell_."

 

Kenji slowed to a halt, so that Enishi paused and turned back to look at him.  "What do I do, then?" the boy asked plaintively.

 

That night, as Kaoru was wondering whether it was worth the trouble to cook something new or if she could get away with just re-heating the stuff that had been left over from lunch, her son came edging into the kitchen.

 

"Mom?"

 

Kaoru smiled and went over to him at once.  "What is it, Kenji?"

 

He shuffled awkwardly, and a frown came to her face as she remembered that he had been acting guilty earlier.

 

"Do you have something you need to tell me, young man?" she asked in a more severe tone.

 

He looked up at her with a smile that he had apparently learned from his father, puppy-eyed and adorable in an attempt to stave off trouble.  Just the sight of it raised Kaoru's hackles, even as her heart melted.

 

"Mommy?" he said artfully, "I love you very much."

 

"Uh huh," she said, still waiting.

 

His smile faltered a bit, but then he plastered it back on and drew out whatever he had been hiding behind his back.  "You're such a wonderful mommy that I got you flowers."

 

"Oh, they're beautiful!" Kaoru exclaimed, wondering as she spoke if he had stolen them or something.  They were far too nice for him to have just found growing on the side of the road.  "Where did you get these?"

 

"Um...."

 

"This is a pretty ribbon," Kaoru said in surprise, examining the silky material that had been used to tie the bouquet together.  "It looks just like...."  She frowned.

 

"I wanted to do something really special for you," he said in a rush, "so we got it embor-- embry-- sewn!  See, it says 'love.'"

 

"I see that," Kaoru acknowledged, untying the ribbon and inspecting it more closely.  It _was_ hers.  The traces of Kenshin's old bloodstains were visible among the delicate new stitches.  "So, Kenji, you thought it would be a good idea to take my favorite hair ribbon without asking, and get it embroidered?"

 

Kenji paused.  Then he abandoned the puppy look and stated decisively, "It was Uncle Enishi's idea."

 

"Mm hm.  And why, might I ask, did Enishi suggest getting my hair ribbon embroidered in the first place?"

 

The puppy look was back.  "Don't you like it, Mommy?"

 

Kaoru smiled.  Then she held up the ribbon and pointed to a certain area of the stitching.  "This stroke is off a bit.  It looks more like a _repair_ job than part of the embroidered kanji."  She gave Kenji her sweetest look.

 

He gulped.

 

"Are you _sure_ there's nothing you want to tell me, my darling?"

 

"Uh...well, you see, it was Kakeru's fault, and...and...!"

 

"And?" she prompted.

 

The boy swallowed.  Then he looked down at his feet and said in resignation, "Guess tomorrow I'll be swinging that stupid shinai 'til my arms fall off?"

 

"You'd better believe it," Kaoru said cheerfully.  "Now, go grab your uncle from wherever he's skulking and make him help us get dinner ready before Kenshin gets home."

 

"Uncle Enishi's not here," Kenji said craftily.  "He's been gone for _hours_."

 

"As if I couldn't guess that he's the one who helped you with that ridiculous cover-up.  Now go."  She swatted him lightly on the backside; Kenji yelped and scrambled for the door.

 

"Hey, Mom knows you're here!" he yelled out into the dark yard.  "She says come inside and help cook before she makes you do a thousand swings, too!"

 

"She did _not_ say that," replied a voice, and Enishi materialized out of the shadows.  "But I'll come, since if we don't help her with dinner I'll just end up puking it all up again."

 

Kenji giggled.  "I'm the only one who doesn't think Mom's food is gross," he said proudly.

 

"That's because you've had to grow up on it," Enishi said pityingly.  "Come on, let's go."  He headed for the lit doorway, and did not object when Kenji moved to take his hand as they walked inside together.

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes:  I was wondering idly what would happen if Enishi, after reading Tomoe's diary and learning the truth, were to meet Kenshin again.  Two elements caused the idea to solidify into a story.  One was that I had gotten a request to write a sequel to _Wandering_ where Hiko comes across little Kenji (that one is still incomplete and unpublished).  The other was that I feel really bad about what Enishi did to the kids in _The Lost Hatchling_ , so I wanted to write a nicer story about Enishi and one of Kenshin's kids to contrast it.  There was also the fact that in _Hatchling_ , Enishi and Kenji got along together surprisingly well off-screen (very ironic, considering their on-screen relationship).  I also wanted to broaden Enishi's range yet again by giving him a fic where he's not a bad guy onscreen for once.

 

Yay, this is the first fic I've written where Kenji doesn't hate Kenshin!  Kenshin actually got to raise him here, so Kenji had the chance to grow out of that dad-hating phase...mostly.

 

I'd love to see fanart of Enishi and little Kenji.... ^_^


	2. Unlost: Tired (prompt 1) {Kenshin, Tomoe, Enishi, & Kenji, period AU}

Unlost

A fanfic series by Raberba girl

 

Summary:  Series of drabbles and one-shots focusing on Kenshin, Tomoe, Enishi, & Kenji in various combinations (no slash). Mostly AUs; sometimes includes crossover elements from Kingdom Hearts. Inspired by a theme list from the "100_situations" community on LiveJournal.

 

Introduction:  [Updated 9 July 2013] I had a hard time thinking of a title.  I finally figured that so many things that were lost in canon will not be lost here:  Tomoe's life, her relationship with Enishi, Kenshin & Enishi's relationship as brothers, Kenji's respect for his father (I know it's more of a throwaway joke in canon, but it's usually a lot more dramatic in my headcanon), etc.

 

I'm revamping this series.  It was originally intended to be a Kenshin/Tomoe/Enishi/Kenji-centric challenge series as a way to try to revive my Rurouni Kenshin muse.  However, a combination of factors (loooooong story...) made me realize that it's just not going to work that way.

 

In short, RuroKen is still my favorite manga of all time, but my experience of the fandom has been truly terrible, and RK fans make it very unpleasant to post RK fanfiction.  There's no way I'm going to be able to write 100 RK fics, even short ones.

 

I can't seem to cut myself off from the fandom completely, because even though it's simply not fun to write RK fics anymore, I still enjoy writing for those four characters a little, Kenshin (my favorite character of all time) and his son and his first wife and her brother.  I'm still not going to do all 100 stories for them, which is why I'm dropping the challenge; and Kingdom Hearts seems to be my One True Fandom, so I gave up trying to be subtle about the KH elements and am just turning this into a full-blown crossover - some future drabbles I haven't posted yet are more blatant crossovers.

 

But I do like the 100_situations theme list, and I hate not finishing things I start, so I decided that instead of taking on the challenge properly as part of the LJ community, I'm just going to unofficially use the prompt list to write whatever stories strike my fancy, for whatever fandom, even perhaps for original stories (though I will not post those).  The ones that suit the topic of the _Unlost_ series will be updated here (RK fics or RK/KH crossovers that involve one or more of the quartet).

 

**Tired (prompt 1, table one)**

 

Summary:  On the run, Kenshin, Tomoe, Enishi, & Kenji are forced to stop for the night.

 

A/N:  AU that's difficult to describe - it's like the sort young adult fantasy novels are usually set in, just without the fantasy.

 

o.o.o

 

They were still deep in enemy territory, but were nevertheless forced to stop for the night and rest.  Not that they were making much progress anyway, struggling through the pitch-dark with nothing but a torch for light.

 

"We can't _afford_ to stop!" Enishi insisted.  Since reuniting with his sister, there had been a soft joy in his expression that Kenshin had never expected to see from him, but now, anxiety and frustration were putting the edge back into his voice.

 

"We must, Enishi," Tomoe said quietly, trying to heft Kenji into a more comfortable grip.  "The child is tired."

 

"You're carrying him, he'll be fine."

 

" _Your sister_ is tired, too," Kenshin clarified in exasperation.  He didn't like admitting it in front of this wild young soldier who had so recently been his enemy, but, "We all are."

 

" _I'm_ not," Enishi said smugly.

 

"You haven't slept in two days, of course you're tired," Tomoe said shortly.

 

"I'm not!  I'm too _happy_ to be tired!  Now that I've got you _back_."  He tried to hug her, and ended up waking Kenji, who fussed for a minute and then began to wail.

 

"Give him to me," Kenshin said wearily, reaching out to take his son.  "Hush, Kenji, it will be all right...."

 

"Want Mama!" Kenji sobbed angrily.

 

The adults fell silent, and Enishi fidgeted awkwardly.

 

"She's waiting for us," Kenshin finally whispered, barely able to speak.  "She's watching over us, and someday, we'll be able to see her again...."

 

"Enishi," Tomoe finally said, "I know we're still in danger, but we cannot go on for now.  Please?  I trust you to keep us safe."

 

He grinned.  "I'll protect you with my life, Sis.  I'll _never_ let anything bad happen to you, ever again."

 

She was just too tired to deal with this properly right now....  "Thank you, dear."

 

She had some trouble finding a place to lie down in the dark, though it helped that her brother instantly gave up his uniform jacket for her to sleep on.  The child had settled down by now, and Kenshin carefully laid him down beside her.  Kenji snuggled into her, making her grateful for his warmth and presence.

 

"Shall I take first watch?" Kenshin murmured hesitantly.  He didn't want to let his guard down at all, but he did desperately need at least an hour or two of sleep, and this might be his only chance for quite a while.  Enishi had no reason to harm the boy, and he wouldn't try anything, anyway, with Tomoe having grown attached to Kenji...right?

 

"I can handle the whole night," Enishi said confidently.  "Go ahead and crash, you pansy."

 

Kenshin closed his eyes briefly.  As an enemy, Enishi had been wild and fiery, a little harder to predict than usual.  As an ally, he was turning out to be rash and childish - almost as if he was behaving like the child he had been when he had lost his sister, come to think of it.  "You should get some rest at some point, too.  There won't be a better opportunity until we've crossed the border."

 

"I _told_ you, I can handle it."

 

"Enishi, it's so dark, I'm frightened," Tomoe called placidly.  "Please come keep me company?"

 

A tiny smile crossed Kenshin's face as he watched Enishi bound over to his sister and happily curl up beside her.  "Don't worry, Sis, I'm right here."

 

"I know you are," she murmured sleepily, slipping her fingers through his hair and holding his head against her shoulder.  "Thank you."  She began to sing softly.

 

Very soon, Kenshin sensed the three of them growing still.  He leaned back and gazed up at the stars.  "Kaoru, I didn't know what to tell him."  So much desperation to save his wife, so many battles to retrieve her from her captors, and then she had gone and willingly laid down her life for her son's sake.  "This isn't...what I wanted...this isn't how it should have been...."

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes:  I was originally unhappy with how little of the exposition made it into this drabble, but re-reading it, I like this a lot, and I think there's enough casual backstory in it to make sense.

 

But if you need clarification:  I was imagining it as a country under tyrannical rule; Kenshin has to rescue his wife and son, but she is killed in order to give Kenji and/or Kenshin a chance to escape.  Kenshin also somehow ends up rescuing Tomoe from...something.  Which hopefully isn't the Emperor's harem, but that's what I keep thinking of. *sweatdrop*  Enishi's a soldier for this country who immediately turns traitor when he discovers where his sister's been all this time.  The group is trying to travel out of the country to get Tomoe and Kenji to safety (I don't know how long the journey takes), but I think that Kenshin and Enishi might then return to the capital to overthrow the evil overlord.  Maybe.

 

Heh.  I realized that I write Tomoe/Enishi almost exactly the same way I write Xion/Vanitas. X3

 

Complete:  1/100


	3. Unlost: Back Alley (prompt 2) {Kenji, Enishi, Kenshin, & Tomoe, The Cat Returns AU}

**_Unlost_ ** **, a fanfic series by Raberba girl**

**Back Alley (prompt 2, table one)**

 

Summary:  Maybe Kenji will think twice about jumping in front of oncoming traffic next time.

 

**A/N:  Inspired by (some scenes ripped straight from) the Studio Ghibli film _The Cat Returns_.  Modern fantasy AU.**

 

o.o.o

 

It certainly was not easy being a single father, but at least other single parents never had to deal with talking cats invading their kitchen.  "Oro!?" Kenshin yelped, dropping his briefcase in surprise.

 

"Please, Himura-san, there's no time," the cat begged, standing up on her hind legs as effortlessly as if she was designed to be bipedal.  "I know this must seem very strange to you, and I apologize for the intrusion and for the trouble this must be causing you, but _please_.  The longer your son remains in custody, the more concerned I grow for his safety--"

 

Kenshin's eyes narrowed.  "Kenji's in danger?"

 

"Several fates for him are possible in my land, but I'm fairly sure that neither you nor he will be happy with any of them."

 

Kenshin nodded, reaching to grasp a bokutô.  "We'll go now, then, and you can explain to me on the way--  Um...."

 

"Tomoe," she offered, dropping back down to all fours and trotting for the door.

 

"Tomoe-san.  This one cannot even begin to express his gratitude."

 

"I am simply repaying the life debt I owe to Himura Kenji-san," the cat said, stiffly enough that Kenshin smiled.

 

"And that is all there is to it, is there...?"

 

_Earlier, on the way to school that morning:_

 

Kenji was waiting for the light to change, idly wondering if he could get away with playing hooky again, when he noticed the cat.  "What the...?"

 

She was trotting along the sidewalk with a package dangling from her mouth as naturally as if she was just another (really short) pedestrian.

 

"It's a delivery cat!" Kenji laughed in astonished amusement.  "So much for never being able to train a cat."  He watched with interest, oblivious to the changing light, as she actually _looked both ways_ and then began to cross the street.  "I want one," he breathed, only half-jokingly.

 

She dropped the package.

 

Kenji didn't notice the sudden painful tightening of his own grip, he was too riveted.

 

The cat struggled to retrieve her package from where it had fallen in the middle of the road, but she was having trouble picking up the ribbons she had been carrying it by.

 

This time, Kenji did notice the light change.  "Hey--"

 

Traffic began moving again.

 

"Hey!"

 

She was finally able to resume her grip on the thing, and she took a few more steps toward the other side of the road, but it was too late.

 

Kenji flung himself across the street, the sound of screeching tires blasting in his ears as he seized the cat in his arms.  Then they were crashing into an ornamental shrub growing on the sidewalk outside a shop, where Kenji lay dazed for a moment.  He frowned, experimentally knocked his heel against the pavement, and realized that he'd lost a shoe.  "Dang it."  He sat up and lost his breath again when he saw the cat _standing on her hind legs_ , brushing herself off like there was absolutely nothing extraordinary about this display.  "Holy...flaming...."

 

Their eyes met.  Kenji was frozen for a second, lost in the mesmerizing beauty of her gaze.

 

Then she bowed in thanks - _bowed_ \- and retrieved her package again.

 

"Wait--"

 

She broke into a graceful run.

 

"Hold on!"  Kenji snatched up his shoe from the curb and jammed his foot into it, then took off, hissing in pain when he found himself limping.  "Stupid car...."

 

He managed to find his gait soon enough, just in time to avoid losing the cat entirely.  He followed her down the sidewalk, abruptly cut into a back alley, scaled the fence at the end of it, and nearly lost her again.  " _Wait_!  Please!"

 

She paused, just for a moment.  She glanced back at him with an odd (and very human) look, half-compassionate and half-frightened.  Then she took off again, faster than before.

 

"WAIT!"  Kenji barreled after her, heedless of the yards he was cutting across in this quiet neighborhood.  Down the street, nearly tripped over a bicycle sprawled on the sidewalk, narrow overgrown path between two houses, down a set of cracked steps, sharp turn to the left, holy CRAP what the--?!

 

Kenji tried to stop, but the incline was steep and he ended up falling flat on his face.  He didn't stay like that for long, because gravity and momentum and some weird third pulling sensation had conspired together and he was tumbling toward the shimmery cloud the cat had disappeared into--  "Aaaahhhh...!"

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Kenji opened his eyes and had approximately one second to be in awe of the gorgeous blue sky and beautifully turreted towers stretching up to it before the pain set in.  "Urgh...."  Wincing, he gingerly rolled to his hands and knees.  "I'm an idiot."  He was also surrounded, as he discovered upon getting to his feet.  "Whoa!"

 

The cats, nervously keeping their distance, backed away even more, but their expressions of fear and anxiety were hardening into something uglier.

 

"What is it, Mama?" a tabby kitten asked curiously.

 

"It's a monster," the mother cat snapped.  "Stay away from it."

 

"Are you talking about _me_?" Kenji exclaimed indignantly.  They all flinched at the sound of his voice, but then many of them settled into full-blown glares.  "Who _are_ you people?!"  He couldn't help calling them people.  They all wore clothes, and some carried bags or baskets.  Around them was a bustling city, with buildings and vehicles and citizens all about their business, the only difference being that everyone was feline instead of human.  And all of them were his size - most taller than him, actually.  "Look, I...I think I may have made a mistake, I--"

 

"The Guard approaches," someone warned, and the crowd of hostile gawkers abruptly scattered.

 

Kenji frowned after them.  "Hey--"  Then he gasped as he was knocked down from behind.

 

"Got you," someone snarled gleefully in his ear.

 

Kenji struggled to turn over.  He managed it in the end, though it meant that the giant cat was now pinning him with one paw on his left arm and another pressed into his stomach, both tipped with not-entirely-sheathed claws.

 

"Get off," Kenji gasped, finding it hard to speak with those curved blades so close to drawing blood.

 

"Trespasser," the cat hissed, almost happily.  "Monster.  I'm taking you in."  The creature was pure white and almost luxuriously fluffy; it was also wearing glasses and dressed in a crisp uniform.  Despite all this, it somehow managed to seem like the most dangerous thing Kenji had ever seen.

 

"No, wait," he gasped desperately.  "There's been a mistake, I just need to go home now."

 

The cat laughed as if he had told a hugely funny joke.

 

"Please!  I didn't mean to bother you guys or chase that--  Ummmm, I just, um, I came here by accident, and I really--"

 

The cat suddenly dove at his face, and Kenji couldn't help shrieking as he instinctively shut his eyes and turned his head aside.

 

The cat had _licked_ him.  Which was disgusting under the circumstances, but also, since that tongue was so much bigger and rougher than a normal cat's, it _hurt_.  Kenji's left cheek tingled painfully, as if he'd scraped a handful of tacks over it.  "D-Don't...do that again...."

 

"Human through and through," the cat said with relish.  "Are you coming quietly, or do I get to play with you?"

 

 _'What are you, a freaking pedocat?'_   "...Can I at least, like, have someone else arrest me?"

 

Kenji barely escaped the humiliation of being carried off by the collar as if he was a kitten.  It was galling to have to walk into captivity of what felt like his own free will, but at least that was better than the alternative.  _'Note to self, think twice before jumping in front of oncoming traffic next time....'_

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes:  Fluffy white pedocat was Enishi, of course.  (Not literally a pedo, btw; it's just that his cluelessness amuses me.)  And Kenji gets rescued just like the heroine in the movie does, I wouldn't leave the poor boy to get married off to a cat princess....

 

...I'm going to try really, really hard to not let Kenji ever say the full "Flaming pants." *sweatdrop*  And this will not be the first time Kingdom Hearts sneaks into this series, nope.

 

Complete:  2/100


	4. Unlost: Sunrise (prompt 3) {Tomoe & Enishi, Kingdom Hearts setting}

**_Unlost_ ** **, a fanfic series by Raberba girl**

**Sunrise (prompt 3, table one)**

 

Summary:  Enishi is briefly reunited with his sister.

 

A/N:  Contains heavy references to _Kingdom Hearts II_ and/or _Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days_.

 

o.o.o

Enishi did not notice time passing in the Fallen Village.  Sometimes it was bright, sometimes it was dark; sometimes, he heard an old man's voice speaking to him, soothing even though he perceived none of the words.

 

There had been darkness, and he'd been drifting on the edge of sleep, but now....

 

He sat on a high ledge, overlooking a quiet town, with no sound other than the wind and the cries of passing birds and the call of distant trains.  The sun was blazing near the horizon, but not too hot, its rays seeming to bathe wounds that couldn't be seen.

 

For the first time, it occurred to Enishi to wonder about something.  Not very much, but still.  This did not seem to fit.  "Where...?"

 

There were soft footsteps behind him.  He did not at first think to have any interest in whose they were, and by the time his shoulders suddenly twitched with intuition, she was already sitting down beside him.

 

"Hello, Enishi."

 

"Neesan," he whispered, leaning to rest his head against her shoulder.

 

Her fingers reached up to trail gently through his hair.  "I missed you."

 

"I missed you, too," he managed to whisper, his throat tight.  "I missed you _so much_."

 

"...Even when you looked at me and thought you saw a smile on my face, I missed you," she said meaningfully.

 

He flinched and turned his face closer, hiding from her eyes as shame engulfed him.  "I...."

 

They were quiet for a long time.

 

"Did you really love him?" Enishi finally whispered.

 

"You read the truth."

 

"How _could_ you?!" he burst out, suddenly straightening so he could desperately search her face.  " _How_?"

 

"He made me happy."

 

He stared.  "...How?"  How was it possible?

 

"Enishi," she said softly, "my husband did not destroy my happiness out of malice or cruelty, and he gave me another to replace what was lost.  Until then, I felt as if my soul was dying within me.  But with that forgiveness...sharing my pain with him, setting him free in my heart....  There is no joy in a life of revenge, Enishi."  Her dark eyes held his.  "And I think you know that very well."

 

He had been on the verge of it without noticing, but now he wept for real, feeling how true it was in the deep ache of his tired body.  There really had been no joy or peace or happiness all these years, it was all pinned on that point in the future when he could finally bring justice to the Battousai, finally thrust his own pain on his sister's killer and be rid of it.

 

Yet...that point had come and gone, or at least something as close to it as he would ever accomplish, and still...no peace, no rest anywhere, the wounds in his soul seeming to bleed afresh...except here, in the sun's warmth and his lost sister's arms.  "I want to stay with you," he whispered.

 

There was a long silence.  She finally said, "This place exists in perpetual twilight, and you are only here because you have found a path between wakefulness and sleep.  Eventually, you will be drawn back the way you came - it is not possible for you to stay."

 

"If I kill myself," he suggested in all seriousness, "can I stay with you?"

 

"Dear one," she said, very softly, "do you believe that walking such a path would bring you to me?"

 

"Maybe," he said stubbornly, even as uncertainty whispered in his heart.  She gazed at him for such a long time with reproach in her eyes that he finally sighed.  "I'll keep living.  In this hell the world became once you left it."

 

He had thought that might please her, but after a long silence, she finally said, "You really are not a man."

 

"What?!"

 

"A mere shell, who feeds on my memory and does not know what it means to truly live."

 

"You!  I want you!  Ever since I lost you, all I've wanted is to have you _back_!"

 

"As I said," she said tonelessly, no longer touching him or looking at him, "a shell only.  Your heart and your soul might as well be dead."

 

He spoke through gritted teeth.  "That was the whole purpose of Jinchuu."

 

"Which is why it was doomed from the start."

 

"What...what should I have done, then?"

 

She sighed.  "My love, can you really think of _no_ better way to honor my memory than to cause suffering and destruction to yourself and everyone around you?"

 

"...."

 

"Just," she prompted, "as one example:  it would please me very much to see you give a flower to a little girl."

 

"...You want me to give flowers to girls?"

 

"Or help a farmer finish his harvest in time.  Or protect a maiden's virtue from the ruffians our region seems to have such an abundance of.  Or feed a stray dog."  She rested her palm affectionately against his forehead, and he closed his eyes at her touch.  "Use your imagination."

 

"...I can't do that kind of stuff."

 

"Why not?"

 

"I don't know how."

 

"Enishi.  You've never tried."

 

"...I don't _want_ to do any of that stuff."

 

"... _I_ want you to."

 

He ground his teeth together.  "Okay.  I'll try."

 

He was startled when she kissed his cheek.  "Thank you, my love."  Then she held out to him what looked like a block of blue ice on a stick.

 

"What's that?"

 

"Something the children here like to eat.  I think you'll like it, too."  She raised a second one to her mouth and gave it a delicate lick.

 

Enishi stared at his own ice, then cautiously touched his tongue to it.  "Ohhhh...."  He bit into it more enthusiastically, his mouth filling with the sweet taste of sea-salt.  "This is _good_!"

 

"Yes."

 

"I like it."

 

"I knew you would."

 

It felt incredibly strange, taking such pleasure from something so innocent and simple.  Enishi actually couldn't remember the last time he'd been able to enjoy something like this.  "Hey, Neesan?"

 

"Hm?"

 

"Even if I can't stay with you...can I come back sometimes and sit with you like this again?  Eating this sea-salt stuff and watching the sunrise together...."

 

She glanced at him in mild surprise.  "Sunrise?"

 

"Yeah."  It was kind of a weird one, though.  The sun hadn't moved in all this time, just kept resting comfortably on the horizon.

 

"I suppose it does look like a sunrise, doesn't it," Tomoe said thoughtfully, "depending on your perspective."

 

Once more, Enishi saw his sister smile.

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes:  I told you Kingdom Hearts would keep showing up in this series. XD

 

 **KH stuff you should know for this story to make more sense:**   Twilight Town is a world that exists on the margin between the Realm of Light (normal Disney worlds where people are generally nice) and the Realm of Darkness (a black wasteland overrun by the darkness from people's hearts).  It is a sleepy town lit by a **perpetual sunset** , where people seem to use trains as their main mode of transportation.  The train station includes a clock tower, at the top of which several important characters often sit to enjoy **sea-salt ice cream** and bond together as friends.

 

With these challenge series, I often go with the first image I get when I look at the prompt.  In this case, Tomoe and Enishi watching a sunrise, which for some reason made me think of Roxas & Axel's farewell scene in _Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix_ , and thus was this drabble born....

 

Lolol, whenever I get a chance, I will _so_ make fanart of Enishi giving a flower to a dubious-looking Xion, or feeding Chi behind Sai's back when Saïx is busy with mission prep work in Twilight Town. XD

 

Complete:  3/100


	5. Unlost: Late (prompt 4) {Tomoe/Kenshin, Enishi, & Kenji, modern AU parody}

**_Unlost_ ** **, a fanfic series by Raberba girl**

**Late (prompt 4, table one)**

 

Summary:  Tomoe is Late for School.

 

A/N:  Modern AU; parody of some clichés.

 

o.o.o

 

Tomoe realized what sort of fic she was waking up into when she rolled over in bed and noticed that it was fifteen minutes before class started.  "You turned off my alarm clock," she accused Raberba girl in a monotone.

 

"Of course I didn't!" R.girl protested in dramatic indignation.

 

The alarm clock chose that exact moment to start ringing.

 

"I just reset the wakeup time," R.girl added smugly.

 

Tomoe gave a deep sigh.  "Really?  Really, are we really doing this?"

 

"You better hurry, Tomoe-chan, don't wanna be late for school~!" R.girl sang before skipping back to her side of the fourth wall.

 

"...Ugh."  Trudging out of bed, Tomoe moved around her room, ignoring the mess R.girl had made of it and digging through her closet in hopes of finding a clean school uniform still on the hanger.  Yesterday's uniform was strewn invitingly across the floor, but she refused to wear it, having resolved to give in to this silliness as little as possible.  Which also meant combing out her long black hair and binding it up into a quick bun - otherwise, it was probably going to stream out behind her like a _shoujo_ -bubble-infested banner, and she'd rather not hit strangers in the face with it.

 

"Tomoe-chan!" her throwaway OC mother exclaimed when she came down into the kitchen.  "Oh, sweetie, did you sleep in?  I thought you were supposed to have left already!"

 

"I'll be all right," Tomoe said placidly.  "Are you the sort of mother who cooks complete breakfasts such as appear in cereal commercials, or the kind that raises her children on Pop-Tarts and soda?"

 

"Um...I'm not sure," her 'mother' confessed sheepishly.  "I'm just a throwaway OC.  I think you're supposed to refuse my offer of breakfast altogether and dash out the door with a slice of toast in your mouth."

 

"...."

 

"Raberba girl," Tomoe's 'mother' whimpered, quailing under the dark gaze Tomoe was now fixing her with, "she's not going to put the toast in her mouth."

 

 _"Dang it,"_ a disembodied voice echoed from somewhere above.  _"Emergency plans activate!  Throwaway OC Dad, I choose you!"_

 

"I'm leaving now," Tomoe said flatly.

 

Chipper, bright-sunshiney-morning background music began to play as Tomoe grudgingly jogged down the street with her book bag strap flying.  She kept passing other teenagers her age who were also wearing school uniforms, all ambling along at sedate paces and chatting amiably even though they were presumably just as late as her.  _'Why am_ I _the only one who has to be running like an irresponsible fool?'_ she thought resentfully.

 

To top it all off, her hair was coming unraveled so that it began to stream out behind her like a _shoujo_ -bubble-infested banner.  She winced as it hit someone in the face.  "Please pardon me," she called over her shoulder, unable to stop running because that's what was in the script.

 

"Any time, baby," the boy called back happily.

 

 _'Ugh.'_   She considered doing a countdown as she approached a corner, the plot point was so inevitable and obvious.  _'The options are rather limited, considering the series topic.  Kenshin just wouldn't fit the personality type, and Kenji-kun's age makes the prospect rather odd and unpleasant.  Perhaps it'll be one of the other characters from canon, Sagara-san maybe, since I've been shipped with him before.  Or perhaps someone from those video games she won't shut up about.  I really hope she doesn't pair me up with Enishi, because AU-where-we're-unrelated or not, that would be disgusting--'_

 

Bam!

 

She crashed into someone, just as she had expected.  The actual person was one of the last ones she had expected.  "At least you're not my brother," she remarked.

 

"Oro?" Kenshin groaned, rubbing his injured head.

 

"You really were miscast, weren't you."

 

"R.girl-dono tends to do that a lot, that she does," Kenshin agreed, helping her up.  "Are you all right?"

 

"I believe I'm supposed to rant and rage at you right now about how stupid and inconsiderate you are."

 

"Ah.  Sorry," he said humbly.

 

She couldn't help smiling a little.  "And you're supposed to laugh jeeringly about how clumsy and unattractive I am."

 

"Oro!?  Really?"

 

On impulse, she moved forward and touched a little kiss to his cheek.  "You don't have to.  She's irritating me right now."

 

"Oh.  Ummmm...."  He surveyed her uniform.  "If you're heading to the high school that's down that way, would you like this one to walk there with you?"

 

"I would, actually."

 

Thus it was that, instead of acting like a jerk and sauntering off as she yelled defensive insults at him to properly conclude the scripted Crash into Hello start of their romance, Kenshin simply smiled.  Tomoe took his hand, and they continued on to school, despite the fact that the tardy bell could be heard ringing in the distance.  Multiple times, with an increasingly frustrated tone.  While the other presumably late high school students continued on their way as leisurely as if they had all the time in the world to get to class.

 

"I think the editing departments for these kinds of stories need more detail-oriented staff," Tomoe mused.

 

Once on campus, she ignored the attendance office (no one was manning it, anyway, despite the fact that a real school would have had a long line of students waiting to be given tardy slips) and went straight to homeroom.  Which she did _not_ burst into with flying hair and heaving breast and frantic apology-babble in a cloud of _shoujo_ bubbles, since that would have been unduly disruptive.

 

"...so remember to have them signed by your parent-slash-guardian asap," her teacher was telling the class, "because if you don't, then you'll be hauled into the office, and--  YOU ARE LATE--"  He whirled to face her, face alight with malicious glee as he gripped a ruler in one fist, then came to an abrupt stop when he actually saw who she was.

 

"She made you my _teacher_?" Tomoe exclaimed in dismay.

 

"Neesan!"  Yukishiro-sensei bounded across the room, seized her in his arms, and snuggled his cheek against her hair.  "You're in my class~!"

 

"...Lovely," she grumbled.

 

"Let's eat lunch together!"

 

"Wha--  Now?"  She gestured at the clock.  "It's barely even eight in the morning."

 

Without looking, Yukishiro-sensei hurled the ruler so hard that it shattered the clock face and sent the hour hand skittering to the floor, leaving the minute hand dangling lifelessly over the number 6.  "Heh, don't pay attention to that unreliable thing."

 

He seized her hand and happily dragged her out of the classroom and then the building altogether, until they were back behind the school gym, because that was what was in the script (albeit several pages later).

 

"I think," she said very dryly, "that it is difficult to eat 'lunch' without any food."

 

"Hmmm...."  Yukishiro-sensei reached into Hammerspace and produced two bentô boxes.

 

"Did you really have to resort to that?"

 

"Why not?  I never got to use it in canon!"  He started to step toward her, but then tripped over a conveniently-placed rock.  The boxed lunches went flying, Tomoe fell against the gym wall with a small, startled cry, and her brother/teacher managed to slam both fists against the wall on either side of her head to stop himself from crushing her.

 

"Enishi--"

 

"You smell nice.  Was your fake mom baking cake or something this morning?" he asked, dipping his face a little closer to her neck.

 

"She was, in fact.  Enishi, you do realize you're _cooperating_ with this insanity, don't you?"

 

"Hey, you!" shouted a voice.

 

Tomoe sighed deeply as Yukishiro-sensei's head came up again, his expression and body language alert with interest as if he was a dog that had just scented prey.

 

"Get your filthy hands off her, you pervy excuse for a teacher!"

 

"Oooh, Junior wants to play," Yukishiro-sensei laughed, eyes gleaming.

 

Tomoe looked over at Kenji.  The teenager stood at the corner of the gym in a blaze of bishounen glory, clearly prepared to make the most of his role as last-minute hero and rival love interest.  "Kenji-kun, _please_ don't get involved, it is already hard enough trying to wade through the clichés - I don't need you playing along with them on top of everything else."

 

"No way!  Not counting the first two drabbles, she hasn't written me in anything since _Hatchling_ , I've been freaking bored out of my mind!"

 

"Don't be silly, there was the story where Enishi injured his leg trying to rescue you--"

 

"NO!" they both shouted at the same time.  "I like being a teenager," Kenji insisted, as Yukishiro-sensei snarled, " _I would never fall off a ---ing cliff_ , that setup was LAME."

 

"Oh, look," Kenji laughed, "you got censored."

 

"Well," Tomoe said, "if you're not going to 'rescue' me from what you assume to be sexual harassment, I suppose I'll leave you two to enjoy yourselves while I find a way to pass the time until this story is over."

 

"Have at you, perv!" Kenji challenged Yukishiro-sensei, assuming an attack stance with his wooden kendô weapon.

 

"My pleasure, brat," Yukishiro-sensei snarled eagerly, extracting a full-fledged katana from the same place he'd gotten the bentô.

 

"Hey!  You can't use that kind of sword on school grounds, that's cheating!"

 

Leaving them to it, Tomoe went back to class and found Kenshin standing awkwardly at the head of the room, being plied by questions from her curious classmates.  "What a remarkable coincidence to run into you again," she said dryly.

 

He smiled at her in relief.  "Hi, Tomoe."

 

"Hello, love.  I suppose you're a transfer student."

 

"As far as this one can tell, yes."

 

"How about we 'transfer' out of this fanfiction and find something better to do."

 

"This one has no objection to such a proposal," Kenshin chuckled.  "On the count of three?"

 

She took his hand.  "One...two...three."

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes:  I originally thought this fic was really stupid yet amusing.  Now that it's properly edited, I think the quality's improved a bit.  I also tried to tone down Enishi's pedo creeper vibes - he doesn't intend to give them off at all, he's just so oblivious to the effect he has. ^^;

 

This story was inspired by the common anime image of schoolgirls hurtling down the street with toast dangling from their mouths because they're running late.

 

Complete:  4/100


	6. Unlost (prompt 84) {Kenshin/Megumi & Kenji, modern AU}

**_Unlost_ ** **, a fanfic series by Raberba girl**

**Already Taken Care Of (prompt 84 - Sex; table one)**

 

Summary:  Kenshin should have done this a long time ago.

 

**A/N:  Modern AU.  Do not read this fic if you can't handle changes to canon.**

 

o.o.o

 

"Kenshin, have you done it yet?"

 

"Done what?" Kenshin asked innocently.

 

His wife, standing in the doorway of the laundry room, crossed her arms in an ominous manner.  "The thing I've been asking you to do for weeks now."

 

"Ummm...fixed the lawnmower?" Kenshin tried, cautiously continuing to sort the clothes into piles of lights and darks.

 

" _No_.  Have you talked to Kenji?"

 

It was nice when she made it easy.  "Of course," Kenshin said confidently.  He set the empty basket aside and began scooping socks and underwear into the washing machine.

 

Megumi narrowed her eyes.  "I meant, have you had The Talk with him."

 

Dang it.  "...Wow, we sure are running low on detergent, de-gozaru!"

 

She marched inside a few steps and shut the lid of the washing machine, pointing sternly with her other finger.  "Go.  And the next time I see you, this had better be taken care of if you want any more personal experience of what you're supposed to be telling him about."

 

"Ororo...."  Reluctantly, he moved past her and then faced the back hallway as if it was a gauntlet of doom.  "This one doesn't even know how to bring up the subject, that is...."

 

Kenji was sprawled half across his bed and half across his desk chair, somehow managing to talk on the phone, surf through an online video archive, make his way through a video game, and work on math homework, all at the same time.  ...Well, the homework seemed to be getting the short end of the stick, but nevertheless, it was an impressive feat of multi-tasking.

 

"...Hello, Kenji," Kenshin greeted unhappily.

 

Not even a flicker of response.  "No _way_ , that's the lamest band ever!" Kenji was exclaiming into the phone.  "Melodious Nocturne totally owns them!"

 

"I'm standing in your room, by the way," Kenshin remarked.

 

"GAAAHHH, stupid Fat Bandit!  ...What?  No, sorry, I was talking to the game."

 

Come to think of it, this situation was advantageous to one inclined to procrastinate.  Kenshin perched on the non-Kenji-occupied half of the chair and curiously clicked on a video featuring kittens.

 

"Hey, don't touch my computer!" Kenji yelled.

 

"Not touching it," Kenshin pointed out cheerfully (and truthfully, since the video was already playing).

 

Kenji looked at him for a minute, then gave a dramatic sigh and said into the phone, "Hey, gotta go, my dad's getting on my case again."  He hung up and paused the game.  "What do you want?"

 

"At the moment, to see if that gray one is going to fall off the side of the box," Kenshin murmured.

 

Kenji paused the video, too.  "Can you just get it over with so that you can please get out of my room again?"

 

Kenshin gave a very deep sigh.  "Ahem.  Kenji."  There was a long pause.

 

"Yeah?" Kenji prompted impatiently.

 

"So...when a man and a woman love each other very much...."

 

Kenji stared.  "Huh?"

 

"Um...birds and bees...you know...?"

 

"...You can't be serious."

 

"See, what they say about storks, ummm, it's not exactly true, since that's not where--"

 

"Dad," Kenji interrupted, "if this is your pathetic attempt to give me the Sex Talk, you can forget it.  Uncle Enishi already took care of that ages ago."

 

Kenshin stared.  " _Yukishiro Enishi_ told you where babies come from?"

 

"Yup.  And lots of other stuff, too."

 

Kenshin abruptly stood up, snapped off the computer monitor, and moved to do the same with the TV.

 

"Hey!" Kenji yelled, "You can't--!"

 

"Sit up," his father ordered in a voice of steel.  "You and this one are going to have a talk, that we are."

 

Kenji gulped and scrambled to straighten up.  "Y-Yes, sir."

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes:  Kenji's pretty rude, sorry. *sweatdrop*  I have a hard time imagining Kenshin as being a good disciplinarian....  (You can be sure that Kenji doesn't get away with anything when his mom's eye is on him, though!)

 

**Yes, people.  I was perfectly aware that Kenji is Kaoru's son in the manga long _before_ people started yapping at me about it all the time.  Just because something is canon doesn't mean I have to stick to it as if it's sacred writ.  
**

 

Complete:  5/100


	7. Unlost: Cheat (prompt 9) {Tomoe, Kenshin, Enishi, & Kenji, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic setting}

**_Unlost_ ** **, a fanfic series by Raberba girl**

**Cheat (prompt 9, table one)**

 

Summary:  During a festival in Ponyville, Tiger Eyes challenges Swordheart to a competition.  This might be just what White Plum needs for her next report on the power of friendship.  ...Or not.

 

A/N:  Um...this is what I get for trying to brainstorm RuroKen stories so soon after watching episode 13 of _My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic_. XD  This story will probably make more sense if you have even a passing familiarity with that show.  Which I'm not really a fan of, btw, it's just super-fun to reference.

 

o.o.o

 

Everyone's hard work had definitely paid off - the town now looked beautiful in honor of the festival.

 

White Plum moved at a serene pace through the decked-out streets, making observations with quiet admiration.  _'Fox Ears did a wonderful job on the clinic, very fitting.  Evil Fishbones's place is less of a mess than usual, I guess he really did attempt to clean up.  The d_ _ô_ _j_ _ô_ _looks nicer than usual, too; I imagine Strongsilk really put Swordheart to work.  Ah, that's quite a lovely idea for the restaurant, I bet Butterfly Sweet suggested that.'_   A quiet chuckle.  _'Not that she'll ever willingly admit it.'_

 

Then she sighed a little.  It might be a holiday for most of Ponyville, but she herself had work to do.  _'I still need a topic for my next report.  You would think a festival would be a good setting....  There are so many friends out enjoying the holiday together, surely someone should be learning a valuable life lesson today.'_

 

The harsh tone of her brother's voice up ahead immediately caught her attention.  "...and that's why you're a _total loser_ , hah!"

 

Swordheart's reply was characteristically mild.  "This one is stallion enough to not feel at all inadequate due to the color of his hide.  He does, however, readily admit that his natural colors are not the most visually appealing."

 

"And we're not _pink_ , anyway," Li'l Swordpath piped up indignantly.  "We're _magenta_ , stupid."

 

White Plum trotted into the square, where Tiger Eyes was belligerently facing down the two magenta pegasi by a nervous-looking shop owner's tangerine stall.  White Plum didn't blame the tangerine-seller for looking nervous - her brother and his archrival were infamous for the destruction that usually followed in the wake of their clashes.

 

"Tiger Eyes," she called firmly.

 

He whirled to face her, eyes suddenly alight.  "Neesan!"

 

"Tiger Eyes," she repeated as she trotted up, "if you ruin the festival for everypony today, I will _not be happy with you_."

 

He seemed to visibly wilt.  "Aw, Sis...."

 

"Hey!" Li'l Swordpath yelled, "Go away!  I don't wanna be helped by a _mare_!"

 

"Swordpath," his father warned, and Tiger Eyes's namesake blazed.

 

" _You got a problem with my sister, runt_?"

 

Li'l Swordpath reared up with a wordless shriek of rage.  In a resigned, practiced sort of way, White Plum and Swordheart got in front of their respective relatives and started herding them away from each other.

 

"This isn't over yet, Swordlosers!" Tiger Eyes yelled.  "Sis, get out of the way!"

 

"Come, let's go find you some ice cream," she said soothingly.

 

"No!  I wanna beat them!"

 

"Dad!" Li'l Swordpath was yelling on the other side, "Cut it out, wait, _wait_ , ARGH YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ME!"

 

Swordheart paused.  "What is it you would like to tell this one, Swordpath?" he asked patiently.

 

"Let's have, like, a contest!  So we can beat Tiger Poop without getting kicked out of the festival or making Mom mad."

 

"Hm," Swordheart said thoughtfully.

 

"I'll take you _down_ ," Tiger Eyes declared with glee.

 

"What sort of contest?" White Plum inquired.

 

"Uh...I dunno.  Something.  Doesn't matter what it is, we'll beat him!"

 

"That's my line," Tiger Eyes snarled.

 

" _This one_ will be the one competing, that he will," Swordheart corrected firmly, giving his son a look.

 

"But--!"

 

"This one will not pit his unready colt against a full-grown stallion."

 

"I can take him!"

 

"Li'l Swordpath," White Plum said sweetly, "if you compete against my brother, you won't be able to do the commentary."

 

He paused.  "Oh yeah.  Mayor Dragonmaster said I could do it this year."  Then he frowned.  "And don't call me that!  I'm not little!"

 

When word spread that Swordheart and Tiger Eyes were about to go head-to-head in an allegedly non-destructive competition, half the town gathered to watch with great interest.

 

"Welcome," Li'l Swordpath boomed from above, circling in the air as he spoke into a megaphone.  "Welcome, all fillies and gentlecolts, to watch my dad actually being cool long enough to pwn Tiger Poop again!"  Then he winced, practically _sensing_ the mayor's warning glare.

 

"If you're incapable of being objective," Mayor Dragonmaster rumbled, "you can forfeit your post right now and save me the trouble of having to fire you."

 

"I can do it right," Li'l Swordpath said defensively.  He took a deep breath.  "Fillies and gentlecolts!  Welcome to the Iron Pony Competition, where you shall witness pwnage beyond your wildest imaginations!"

 

Glare.

 

"You said I had to be objective," Li'l Swordpath argued.  "You never said I couldn't use slang."

 

"Whatever.  It's not like I actually care about this pointless contest," Mayor Dragonmaster grumbled, heading back toward the saké trough.

 

"All right, then!  Our contestants are Swordheart, who's not gonna be a wimp today, because you're my dad and everyone's watching so you'd better not embarrass me, and it's supposed to be a bloodless competition so you're out of whiny excuses, hah.  And second, we've got Tiger...Eyes.  Not Poop, because I'm objective.  First round, barrel weaving!"

 

As the contests went on, Swordheart and Tiger Eyes seemed to be fairly evenly matched, playing to their strengths.  The magenta pegasus was light and swift, and tended to do better at the tasks that involved racing.  He was also careful to keep his wings curbed so as to not have an unfair advantage over the other pony.  Tiger Eyes, though nowhere near the mass of somepony like Mayor Dragonmaster, was nevertheless more well-built than Swordheart, and tended to beat him at feats of strength.

 

Their scores were even when it came down to the last round, leaf sweeping.  "All right, fillies and gentlecolts, it all comes to a head _right now_!  In our final contest, Dad and The Other Guy will be getting a head start on the winter prep so that the rest of us won't have to work so hard after the festival!  Nice one, whoever planned this contest!"  The goal was to strip as many trees as possible of their autumn leaves so as to prepare for winter.

 

"I totally got this," Tiger Eyes declared, his eyes gleaming.

 

"We shall see, that we will," Swordheart said mildly.

 

"On your mark - get set - GO!"

 

The two ponies took off, racing through the trees and sending leaves cascading to the ground in their wake.  Oddly enough, though Swordheart had consistently showed an advantage over his rival in this area during the previous events, he now seemed to be dropping farther and farther behind.

 

"I _told_ you I got this!" Tiger Eyes crowed triumphantly.  "Eat my dust, loser!"

 

He was not, however, so cocky by the time he reached the end.  Panting and exhausted, Tiger Eyes staggered toward the finish line, and was completely outraged when Swordheart came cantering past him, claiming victory with infuriating ease.

 

"NOOOO!!!  You CHEATED!"

 

"This one paced himself, that he did," Swordheart explained as his wife set a medal around his neck.

 

"CHEATER!  ROTTEN CHEATER!"  Exhaustion forgotten, Tiger Eyes flung himself at Swordheart, and the two were suddenly wreaking just as much havoc on the contest grounds as they usually did in their town-destroying fights.

 

White Plum sighed and began to mentally draft a letter.  _"Dear Princess Katsura:  Today, I learned that no matter how friendly the competition and how good a sport the rival may be, my brother will still fly off the handle and cause trouble.  The friendship between myself and my brother is so great that I will_ not _beat him to death with a frying pan after he loses to Swordheart, no matter how much he deserves it."_   Then she chuckled ruefully.  "I can't actually send a letter like that, can I.  Oh well."  She trotted over to try to help the other ponies break up the fight, and resolved to look for a better friendship lesson elsewhere.

 

o.o.o

 

Cast list:

 

White Plum - Tomoe

Fox Ears - Megumi

Evil Fishbones - Sanosuke

Strongsilk - Kaoru

Swordheart - Kenshin

Butterfly Sweet - Tsubame

Li'l Swordpath - Kenji

Tiger Eyes - Enishi

Mayor Dragonmaster - Hiko

 

Complete:  6/100


	8. Better Than Santa {Enishi & Kenji, modern AU}

Better Than Santa

(rough draft)

A Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl

 

Summary:  Enishi is forced to spend Christmas Eve with his six-year-old nephew. Modern AU. Platonic Enishi/Kenji. 

o.o.o

 

Enishi's best Christmas present that year was getting to see his sister open her eyes for the first time in two weeks.

 

Before that, though, he was baby-sitting.

 

"Your snacks suck," said Kenji.

 

Enishi glared at his six-year-old nephew.  "If you think I was gonna waltz around the grocery store tossing Fruity Rainbow Marshmallow Double-Chocolate Crap into my shopping cart, you can forget it."

 

"I'm hungry."

 

"There's more pork buns in the kitchen."

 

"I want pizza."

 

"Give me your entire year's allowance and I'll order some."

 

"No!"

 

"Then _shut up_."

 

They glared at each other.

 

"I'm gonna tell Mom and Dad that you told me to shut up."

 

"You can tell your dad to go sit on a porcupine for all I care."  Tomoe, though....  "And you can't tell them anyway, idiot, because they're in comas and they might never wake up."

 

"They will _so_ wake up!  They're not gonna die!  They're strong!"  Kenji looked to be near tears.  Enishi realized that he was, too, so he whirled and stormed to his room and slammed the door shut.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

It was a long time before he came back out.  "Oi...Kenji...."  The house was very quiet.  "Kenji?"  He had expected the kid to be watching cartoons or something, but he wasn't in the living room.  With a growing sense of dread, Enishi searched the entire house and realized that his nephew was missing.  He swore and seized his coat.  "Dang it, kid, where are you...?"

 

He trekked through the cold night, peering around bushes and into neighbors' yards, listening for a young voice or anything out of place.  "How far did he...?"  Enishi _had_ been by himself for a long time.  Maybe Kenji had...gotten farther than he thought.  "Ugh!"

 

Cursing again, Enishi hurried back home and started up the car.  "Where are you, where are you, where _are_ you, Neesan's gonna freaking kill me...."  He drove slowly and ignored people honking at him once he was out in traffic.  Eyes mostly on the sidewalks, searching for that tiny figure; stopping to ask passerby, half of whom gave him weird looks and increased their pace.  It was times like these where it didn't pay to be creepy.  "Kenji, I'm gonna kill you."

 

It wasn't that it actually mattered to him what had happened to the kid.  Kenji could disappear for all he cared.  Rather, it was picturing Tomoe's face...imagining what he would have to say as he told her that he'd misplaced her son.  "I swear, if you don't show up in the next five minutes...."

 

Fifteen minutes.  Thirty.  An hour.  He warred with himself about calling the police.  Yukishiro Enishi had very good reason to stay clear of law enforcement, but when it was his sister's child at stake....  "I never wanted to baby-sit, anyway!"

 

Tomoe had never wanted to end up in a coma, either.  "I HATE THAT LIFE'S NOT FAIR!!"

 

An hour and a half...two hours....

 

Kenji was so small.  Kid that small, wasn't gonna be worth anything; too weak to lift anything he could use to defend himself.  If something bad happened to him, he'd be helpless.  "Why am I stuck being responsible for some loser weakling I never wanted...."  It was easy to hurt a child, especially one that small.  Could do it in half a move.  And it wasn't like kids were brilliant at the art of self-preservation, either; half the time they did stupid things to hurt themselves.  "If you fell in a ditch or walked into an electric fence or even just forgot your freaking jacket in this weather...."

 

Hi, Tomoe.  Hey, glad to see you're awake; that's great, I'm really happy.  Hey, listen.  You don't mind adopting, right?  I mean, you don't exactly have a kid anymore, but you can always get a new one, right?  I bet he'll even be a better one.  Yeah.  You'll get a better kid and not even have to worry about the old one.  Who disappeared under his uncle's watch.  "It's _not my fault_!"

 

Finally he gave up and went home.  Parked, trudged up the front walk, all the while trying to numb his heart, turn to annoyance and sulking so it wouldn't--

 

Thought it was a cat at first.  Big cat.  Realized pretty quickly that it was human, a really small one.

 

Enishi came to a halt, studying the little figure huddled miserably by the front door.  "Didn't find what you were looking for, huh?"

 

"S-s-so c-c-c-cold," Kenji barely managed to say.  "D-d-dark...you l-left m-me...."

 

"Oh, _I_ left _you_ , that's how you're gonna paint it to mama?  Brat."  Enishi nudged the kid out of the way so he could unlock the door, then picked up his nephew and carried him inside.  Turned up the central heating, got him into some fresh clothes, noted with alarm how cold the boy's flesh was.  "Hey, it's not _that_ cold.  Get it together."

 

Kenji just stood there shivering, teeth chattering, not saying a word.

 

Enishi wrapped him up in a blanket, set him on the couch, and dug through the kid's bag until he found a DVD, which he popped into the player.  While that was starting, he went to the kitchen to stick the soup in the microwave to re-heat, ladled it into a couple of travel mugs, and brought them back into the living room.  As soon as he sat down on the couch, Kenji dropped against him.  Enishi tried to hand him a mug, and ended up having to dig the kid's hands out of the blanket and make him grasp the mug himself.  "Drink it.  It's soup."

 

"C-c-cold."

 

"If you drink the _soup_ you'll warm _up_ , stupid."

 

"Don't c-call me s-stupid."

 

"'Cuz you are."

 

"So're you."

 

"Am not."

 

"Are so."

 

The movie wasn't mind-numbing like he thought it'd be - first of all, it was kind of hard to ignore the sight of a giant piranha or whatever it was gnashing its teeth right at the screen; then some gimpy fish kid whose dad kept smothering him the way Enishi probably should have done to Kenji if he was a good person....

 

"It's like life," Enishi remarked as he watched the fish-kids going to school, "but with fish instead of people."

 

Kenji did not answer, since he was already asleep, with his head pillowed on his uncle's arm.  He had stopped shivering and was now reassuringly warm.  And heavy.

 

"Stupid kid."  Enishi surprised even himself with the affectionate note in his voice.  "I still don't like you, just so you know...."

 

The first thing he thought upon awakening on Christmas morning was anger at himself for falling asleep before seeing if what's-his-name-clownfish had ever found Nemo.  The second thing was noticing Kenji standing in the middle of the living room, slowly turning in a circle.

 

"What's up?"

 

"Santa really didn't come," Kenji said forlornly.

 

Enishi glanced around his living room, which was devoid of any gifts or holiday ornamentation.  "That's because he's not real, duh."

 

"I know...Mom told me.  But I thought he might come, anyway."

 

See?  Kids were stupid.  Though, for the first time, it occurred to Enishi that he did not have to say this aloud.  "Hey.  Who needs Santa."  He threw off the blanket, went to his bedroom closet, and dragged out a large box he'd gotten Tomoe to gift-wrap for him before the accident.  Kenji was watching him from the doorway.

 

"What's that?"

 

"Your present."

 

"From Santa?"

 

"No, from me, stupid."

 

"No."

 

"No, what?" Enishi said, taken aback and a little irritated.

 

"You'd never get me a present, you're mean.  That's from Santa."

 

"...."  _'I'm a horrible uncle,'_ Enishi thought.  Not that he cared, but it galled, being bad at something.  "I've given you presents before."

 

"You did?"

 

"Hello, racecar set last year?  That was from me."

 

"Huuuh?  No it wasn't."

 

"Yes it was!"

 

"No it wasn't!"

 

"Yes it--!  Gah, it _was_ , now shut up and open your present before I chuck it in the trash."

 

"Don't do that."  Kenji hurried over and tore off the paper.  "Aaaawww!  Awesome!  How'd you know I wanted this?!"

 

"Your mom told me."

 

"She did?"

 

"What do you think Christmas lists are for?"

 

"Oh....  Thank you, Uncle Enishi."

 

"You're welcome.  I guess."

 

"Let's play with it in the living room."

 

"No.  Get your coat and stuff, we're going to the hospital."

 

Kenji's eyes lit up.  "To see Mom and Dad?"

 

"Yeah.  To see Mom--  I mean, your mom."

 

"Yeeessss!  You're the best uncle _ever_!"

 

Surprised at being glomped, Enishi looked down at his nephew for a moment, then shrugged and hugged him back.

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes:  Platonic Enishi/Kenji is one of my favorite RK pairings. I love them together, especially in an uncle/nephew context. X3  Lol, those two characters are pretty much the only way I can enjoy writing new RK stories anymore; writing Enishi is like writing Vanitas, and writing little Kenji is like writing little-kid Roxas. XD *heart*


	9. Unlost: Son [A Legacy to be Proud Of] (prompt 5) {Kenshin/Tomoe & Kenji}

**_Unlost_ ** **, a fanfic series by Raberba girl**

**{A Legacy to be Proud Of} Son (prompt 5, table one) [rough draft]**

 

Summary:  Tomoe gets better at playing, and becomes a mother. Re-written in my normal style as a legit KT fic; no longer deliberately provocative.

 

A/N:  [9 July 2013] I did some praying and thinking, and concluded that it's not very Christian to fight fire with fire.  Most Kenshin/Kaoru fans are already deeply wounded from whatever makes them lash out so irrationally, so no matter how immature and outrageous their behavior is, it's still not good to try to hurt them deliberately.  Even though I did put a warning at the top of the fic, it didn't work as justification, because I already knew from past experience that most of the KK fans who needed to heed that warning would ignore it.  Besides, revenge is never a real solution.

 

I re-wrote this story instead of deleting it, because deliberately crappy and trollish as the original was, there _were_ some concepts in it that I liked, and I didn't want to waste them.  I don't mind discussing things with KK fans, but I very rarely get the opportunity, since the vast majority of them will just type an anonymous flame and then dash away.

 

Enjoy, KT fans.  Sorry for that ridiculous excuse for a romance you had to put up with before.  This version is actually true to the pairing.  And if you _did_ happen to like the horribly-written version, sorry it's not all "SEX ROMANCE UBER-CORNY CLICHE LOL" anymore; romance is really not my thing. :p

 

o.o.o

 

They were cute and sweet and funny, the children who so often came to visit them.  She honestly thought so, even though it never occurred to her to say it.  Tomoe admired her husband so much at these times, watching him play with them so effortlessly, as if he knew what to do from instinct.  The love that shone from their eyes, his and theirs, was beautiful to watch.  She was afraid to touch it, for fear that her own lack of instinct would mar it.

 

"Rai-kun had you playing the Shinsengumi against them this afternoon," she said wryly as they were preparing supper.  She had never expected to ever cook alongside her husband, but not only was Kenshin amazingly helpful with the housework, he was actually quite good at it.

 

Kenshin laughed.  Even after all this time, she still marveled at his laugh.  She had never heard it back in the city; it was only here, in the country after their marriage, that she was seeing glimpses of the joyful child he must once have been.  "I know it's ironic...."

 

"You seem to be taking it in good humor, though."

 

"I like what it implies," he said affectionately.  "They want to see justice as much as I do, so they take on what they think is the hero's role.  I appreciate that."

 

"So you step in to represent your enemies, just to give the children a chance to be heroes.  Always willing to get your hands dirty for the greater good, even now," she murmured thoughtfully, and blushed a little when he leaned to kiss her.

 

"For the ones precious to me, whom I wish to protect?  Always."

 

She set down the knife so that she could kiss him back, holding his face so he could see her eyes afterward.  "We are grateful for the sacrifices you make.  But for both our sake and yours:  don't stay in the darkness too long.  Come back to the light and remind yourself of what you have been fighting for."  Their life now might seem idyllic, but the war had not yet ended.  Kenshin could still be called back to duty at any time.

 

He studied her a while, and the appreciative love in his eyes made her breathless.  "Of course," he finally murmured.  "Whenever I see your smile, how could I forget?"

 

She was startled.  "My smile?"  She knew that she was not naturally very expressive.  She could not even recall if she ever _had_ smiled at him before.

 

So she tried to smile for him now, and was rewarded by the sound of his delighted laugh.

 

There were other things she decided to try now, too.  Just because she was not naturally skilled at playing with children didn't mean she had to distance herself.  "...Is that a new doll, Aya-chan?"

 

Startled at being unexpectedly addressed, the little girl looked up in surprise.  She had been crouched on the porch, playing with a doll as Kenshin and the boys had a noisy mock-battle in the yard.

 

"Um...sort of."

 

Tomoe tried to think of something else to say.  "It has a beautiful outfit."

 

"Mama made it yesterday," the girl said, more eager than shy now.  "She had extra left over from the new kimono she made, so she said Rika-chan could have a new kimono, too."

 

Tomoe crouched down to take a closer look.  "The fabric is quite lovely."

 

A second little girl named Mayuko now came over, her interest caught by seeing Tomoe getting involved rather than just watching or doing chores.  "Will you play with us, Neesan?"

 

"Er...yes, if you like."

 

"Yay!  You and me and Aya-chan and Rika-chan and Fuu-chan can all sit together and have tea."

 

"Would you like me to make some?" Tomoe wondered.  It also took her a minute to realize that 'Rika-chan and Fuu-chan' must be the dolls, since there weren't any other girls around.

 

Both children stared at her in delight.  "We'll have real tea?!"

 

What had they been expecting?  "Certainly, if you like."  She stood up to go inside, but they stopped her.

 

"Wait, Neesan!  We have to get ready first!"

 

_'Get ready?'_

 

She began to catch on that much of it was games of make-believe.  The little girls pretended to be dressing in fine kimono, and plaited each other's hair as best they could.  Tomoe winced at the sight of their tangled, dirty locks getting twisted into uneven braids, and finally offered to do their hair for them.

 

"Really, Neesan?!"

 

They seemed to get so happy over such small things....  "Yes, of course."  It was actually rather enjoyable, combing out their long hair and braiding it properly; even that simple thing made them look more like beautiful young ladies and less like tomboys playing in the dirt on a farm.  The girls were utterly delighted with the effect, especially when Tomoe caught sight of the wildflowers Mayuko had been collecting earlier, and it occurred to her to suggest that the blossoms be used as hair ornaments.  It seemed so strange to use weeds for such a thing, but if they could make believe that their ragged clothes were fine kimono, this should not be too difficult, right?

 

"We're so pretty~!"

 

Kenshin seemed to agree.  Looking a bit battered and in need of a rest, he turned back toward the house and stopped dead in amazement when he saw what his wife and the girls had been up to.  "Oro!  Look at you all!"

 

"We're pretty, Niisan, aren't we?" Aya and Mayuko demanded eagerly.

 

" _Beautiful_!  I'll have to act like a gentleman now!"  They laughed.  He grinned and stooped to kiss Tomoe's cheek.  "Fantastic work," he whispered in her ear, making her blush with pleasure again.

 

One night, a few months after their marriage, the couple lay together in bed, and Tomoe decided that she was certain enough by now to tell him.  She reached through the darkness and took her husband's hand, placing his palm on her bare abdomen.  She could practically sense his silent inquiry, then he suddenly sat up.  She looked up at him, waiting.

 

"It's true, then?" he whispered in anticipation.  "I was wondering, but...it's really true?"

 

"Yes," she murmured, wondering how he would react.

 

His excited kisses were answer enough.

 

She was relieved to find that her husband was apparently a doting father.  It could get tiresome at times, but was always infinitely preferable to the behavior of other expectant fathers she had seen.  She did have some apprehension about the baby's sex, but when it was born safely some time later, Kenshin seemed triumphantly joyful even _before_ learning that it was a boy.

 

"Helloooo," Kenshin cooed at his squalling son.  "I'm so happy to see yoooouuu~"

 

"I'm sure he'll return the sentiment eventually," she said wryly, shifting on the bed until she was more comfortable.

 

"I know you don't like it out here," Kenshin kept cooing at the baby, "but you will someday.  I promise."

 

"Yes, love," Tomoe murmured affectionately at both the child and her husband.  "Your father's been working very hard to make this country a better place for you to grow up."

 

Kenshin blushed.  "Tomoe...."

 

"It's true."

 

"I just...wonder if he'll be ashamed of me someday, when he finds out what I've done."

 

Tomoe reached out to lay a hand on his arm.  "No one could be ashamed of you, least of all me or your son."

 

Kenshin smiled a little, shook his head, and carefully returned the baby so that Tomoe could nurse him.  The infant quieted down quickly.  "What should we name him?"

 

"His father is Kenshin - 'sword-heart.'"

 

"You want to name him after me?" he said dubiously.

 

"In a way."  She smiled a little.  "Kenji."

 

"One who follows the path of the sword?  No," Kenshin said quickly.  "I don't want this boy to follow in my footsteps."

 

She was still smiling a little.  "I do, though."

 

He stared at her.

 

"The man I married," she explained, "was not the merciless assassin.  I married Himura Kenshin - one who loves the art of the sword.  One who loves even more to use it in service of the weak and helpless, to defend from injustice those who cannot defend themselves.  _That_ is the man in whose footsteps I want our son to follow."

 

Tears filled Kenshin's eyes for a moment, though he tried to blink them away even as he smiled.  He leaned to kiss their tiny auburn-haired son, and then his beloved wife.  "Kenji, then," he whispered.  "Let's hope that both he and his father can live up to the legacy you expect of us."

 

"I have every confidence in you both," she murmured back.

 

"Tomoe...."

 

They kissed again, the gesture full of love and trust, and Kenji gurgled happily as he apparently decided that this bright new world might not be so bad after all.

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes:  I can't even count the number of times I've heard people complain about Kenji's parentage in my stories.  **It's fanfiction.  Get over it, okay?**

 

Lol, even though I'd originally written this fic with the worst quality I could manage because it was meant to tick people off, the story ended up with some things in it that I liked anyway. XD  So I kept those concepts and just re-wrote the prose in my normal style rather than the ridiculous style I'd used before.

 

Just so you know, there's usually no clear indication between singular and plural in Japanese.  Maybe it's okay to put an S at the end of words like "kimono" when you're speaking English, but in Japanese, "kimono" can be either singular or plural depending on the context.

 

Complete:  7/100


	10. Number IV {Kingdom Hearts / Rurouni Kenshin / Maximum Ride crossover}

Unlost: Number IV

(rough draft)

A crossover fanfic by Raberba girl

 

 _For The Layman, with much thanks.  You've been shockingly supportive of my work (as well as graciously tolerant of my fangirling and_ extremely _patient in waiting for this fic), and you're the only one of my readers that I know of who follows my fics for both my favorite manga and my favorite fandom.  Our conversations are quite refreshing, I appreciate everything so much!_

 

Summary:  Roxas likes the Organization's newest member.

 

A/N:  As far as the timeline - this is a crossover and therefore an AU, so I didn't pay attention to exactly how old the characters are supposed to be or when this is supposed to happen.

 

o.o.o

 

 _He knew he should be feeling_ something _...horror, fear for his loved ones, anger at whatever had caused this, the will to fight - yet he felt nothing.  Distant screams echoed in his ears, phantom blood clouded his vision, yet he simply drifted here in the darkness and felt nothing._

_Then, a whisper, as if from within his own mind.  "You already have the mark...your heart has long been shrouded in darkness...don't you want to be free?"_

_"...."_

_"Let me in."_

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Sanosuke woke up feeling like he'd punched straight through a multi-layered wall with both his hand and his head.  "Ugh...."

 

He was lying on some sort of pavement.  He sat up and found himself somewhere very strange - dark like it was nighttime, though it didn't feel like night, and with lots of tall brick buildings pressed close around.  He was in an alley of some kind.  He could also see a lot of strange light sin the distance, some even forming words (that he couldn't read) or pictures.  "Weird...."

 

Then he finally remembered what he had awakened from.  "Megumi!"  Immediately he was on his feet, running.  _'I was getting_ married _...where did those monsters come from?!'_   Black, shadow-like creatures wriggling up from the ground right in the middle of the ceremony, guests panicking, women screaming, Yahiko fighting at his side...and then a _huge_ , fearsome creature, rearing up above it all....  Sanosuke, full of rage, had charged it without hesitation; the next thing he had known was pain and horror and darkness and...this place.  Where _was_ this place?

 

He finally stopped running and yelling.  People were staring at him.  "Where am I?" he shouted at them.  "Where's my wife?"  The onlookers quickly resumed their business, though someone muttered, "You're in Traverse Town.  Wish you luck, sir."

 

"Traverse Town...?"  He finally found some police, and sent them searching for Megumi.  He also found a shop during his own search - a _wonderful_ shop, filled with magic goodies that healed you and restored your strength when you were hurt....  Sanosuke reluctantly decided he didn't trust the stuff, because he couldn't figure out how they worked, and it seemed too good to be true.

 

There were other shops he kept finding, though...magic, which he didn't go near; and weapons.  Armor.  "Aww...."  Sanosuke got distracted for the longest time in there, admiring them, then finally figured out that not only was he broke, but even if he wasn't, the currency he was used to was not accepted here, anyway.  He also discovered that, A) killing monsters usually resulted in loot, and B) despite all the monsters that kept popping up here, people seemed to regard them as mundane.  Even the women and children had weapons; they'd run from the stronger monsters and bash at the weaker ones, which would eventually burst into quickly-dissipating smoke.  And leave behind treasure.

 

"I have 50 'munny' now," Sanosuke mused, inspecting the golden orb he'd just picked up.  "So if I collect enough of these, I can buy a weapon, or what...?"  He'd need a weapon, in any case.  Using his bare hands didn't work well...touching the shadow monsters felt utterly disgusting, and they seemed to respond more to his will to fight than his physical strength, anyway.  These battles were different than what he was used to.

 

"Oi, you guys still haven't found my wife yet?"

 

"Sir, we've done a thorough search, and it seems very unlikely that the lady is here in this town.  At best, she may be in an entirely different world."

 

"An entirely different _wor_ \--?!"  Sanosuke's eyes narrowed.  "And at worst?"

 

The officer shrugged uneasily.  "Well, you know."  He glanced over at where a girl in a ninja outfit was happily slicing apart monsters with a pair of giant throwing stars.

 

"No, I don't know!  Spell it out!"  The man did, and Sanosuke almost wished he hadn't.  "I've gotta find Megumi...."

 

However, the first one he found was someone else.  Dashing through the courtyard of the Second District, Sanosuke was brought up short by the sight of monsters appearing near a group of kids.  "Yaaahh!"  They started hacking away at the monsters with wooden swords.  They seemed to be enjoying themselves, so Sanosuke was about to pass on again, when he suddenly recognized one of the redheads.  "Wait a sec--"

 

"Aaahh!" a boy cried out as he was raked by a monster's claws.

 

"There are too many of them!" a girl cried.  "Run!"  Then, when one of the boys was reluctant to follow, "Run, Kenji!"

 

Sanosuke surged forward and crushed the rest of the monsters, now barely noticing the soul-choking sensation.  He scooped up the remaining kid in one arm.

 

"Hi, Sano.  I beat a monster."

 

"Great job, kid.  Where's your dad?"

 

"I dunno...."  The boy shrugged uncomfortably.  "Dad fought the big monster and Misao-nee threw me, and I woke up here."

 

"Looks like we've both got people to find, huh....  Come on."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Roxas quickly tuned out Xemnas's slow ramblings.  The newest Organization member was much more interesting - small and slender like Zexion, with red hair like Axel's, gold eyes and pointed ears like Xigbar's, a big X-shaped scar on his face like Saïx, and a bright smile like Demyx's.

 

"...our new Number IV, Xekshinn," Xemnas finally finished.

 

Xekshinn smiled straight at Roxas.  "Hello."

 

"Um, hi."

 

"What's your superpower?" Demyx asked.

 

"Hmm...this one does not know."

 

"Let's go do a holo-mission and find out!"

 

"Hmmm?" Xekshinn murmured, politely disinterested.

 

"Luxord," said Xemnas, "you will be Number IV's guide during his first week.  Teach him what he needs to know to be a productive member of our Organization."

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"If there is no other business to discuss, you are all dismissed."

 

That evening, Roxas went to the kitchen to make dinner and found Xekshinn already there, cooking as if he was a professional.  "Whoa...."

 

The older Nobody turned to him with a smile.  "Hello, young one."

 

"Hi....  Man, everyone likes to give me nicknames."

 

"What is it you wish to be called?"

 

"My name's Roxas."

 

"Roxas.  It is good to make your acquaintance, that it is."

 

"You talk kind of funny...."

 

"Apologies."

 

"I mean, it's fine, I've just never heard anyone talk like that before.  What are you making?"

 

"Oh, nothing much.  Would you like some?"

 

Roxas was not expecting that.  None of the other members (except Axel and Xion, of course) usually offered to share.  "Uhh...sure."

 

"Please wait just a little longer, and then it will be ready, that it will."

 

"Okay.  Can I help?"

 

"Hmm, well, you may chop the rest of those, if you wish."

 

Axel and Xion finally RTC'd as they were sitting down to eat, and Xekshinn didn't mind sharing with them, too.

 

"This is good," Roxas noted.  He didn't often eat Japanese food, but he found that he liked it.

 

"You're a really good cook," Xion said admiringly.

 

"This one is pleased you like it, little one."

 

Xion giggled.  "He called me 'little one'...."

 

"Charming guy," Axel remarked in a dry tone.  He watched unhappily as the kids seemed to hang on the newest member's every word all throughout dinner.  Then, after the Keybearers had gone to bed, Axel went to pay a visit to Vexen's old room (Xion had moved her things to Larxene's).  "Oi.  Number IV."

 

"Yes?" Xekshinn said innocently, looking up from the book he was paging through.

 

Axel wasn't sure how to say it without having the opposite effect of what he wanted.  "I noticed you getting pretty friendly with the Keybearers at dinner."

 

"Keybearers?"

 

"Those two are special.  They can use the Keyblade - a weapon that only a very few in all the worlds are able to wield."

 

"They're so young...."

 

"Yeah.  Just kids, really; no one pays much attention to them as long as they get their work done."

 

"This one...used to love children, before...."

 

They were silent for a moment.

 

"It's all just _gone_ , that it is," Xekshinn murmured thoughtfully.  "This one's past...it's as if it happened to a stranger.  No more crushing darkness, no more pain...no more joy...there's just--"

 

"Nothing," Axel finished softly.  "A big blank.  You're nothing.  Nobody."

 

"Is that better, or worse, this one wonders," Xekshinn murmured.

 

 _'I don't care.  Just stay away from my friends.'_   "Who knows.  I guess that's what we're trying to find out, rebuilding Kingdom Hearts and all."

 

"Kingdom Hearts...."

 

"It's that big heart-shaped moon outside the window."

 

"Hm."

 

"Yup.  Well, good night."

 

"Good night."

 

Axel left, frustrated with himself.  _'Stay away from my friends, they're_ mine _....'_

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Another one - they'd been having so many attacks lately.  Everyone else on the street fled at the sound of the monster's screech, angry about _yet another_ interruption so soon after the last one, but Tomoe paused.  It wasn't the usual 'Mwahaha, I will wreak havoc on this city!' screech.  The Heartless sounded angry.  That was a battle cry, which meant that the creature was battling someone.

 

 _'Enishi will be upset if something happens to me.'_   But she couldn't let her life revolve around her little brother's wishes, so Tomoe tucked her shopping bag securely under one arm and cautiously went to investigate.

 

He was beautiful.  His movements were beautiful as he fought, graceful and unbelievably swift, as if it was a performance.  The Heartless didn't have a chance - long before she could get her fill of watching, the monster shrieked out its death-cry and began to fall...straight toward Tomoe.  She watched, almost too awed to run, but it didn't matter because it was already breaking apart, landing on her not as a massive body but as a spray of shadows like black blood.  In the next moment, even those smoky remains were gone, leaving her shivering at the touch of darkness.

 

 _'I....'_   She felt ashamed as the man approached, he in the perfection of a victorious warrior and she feeling filthy from the darkness, but he did not seem to notice.

 

Solemnly, he paused before her and offered a Potion.  "...Are you hurt?"

 

"...."  She took the bottle from his hand, and drank until she felt cleansed.  Then they gazed at each other for a while.  _'This feels so familiar,'_ she thought.

 

"Tomoe," he murmured, and she felt a jolt of surprise.

 

"How do you--?"

 

Then he was reaching out, holding her head gently as he kissed her.

 

 _'..._ This _is why I've never been interested in anyone,'_ she thought.  _'Because I've always been waiting for him, without even knowing.'_

 

"Number IV."

 

They pulled back to look at the man who'd interrupted them.  Blonde, with silver earrings, wearing the same black coat as her warrior.

 

"We need to go."

 

"Very well."  He gave Tomoe one last look and then started to turn away.

 

"What's your name?" she quickly called after him.

 

He paused, and smiled.  "Kenshin."

 

 _'Kenshin.'_   She tucked the name close to her heart.  "I will see you again."

 

Kenshin glanced at his companion, who shook his head, but Kenshin turned back to her and smiled and said, "Yes."

 

She smiled back, and walked away.  And paused behind the wall, as soon as she was out of sight.

 

"Perhaps I should have told you this sooner," said the other man, "but we are a secret Organization.  You should avoid communicating with or allowing yourself to be seen by the locals."

 

"I know her," said Kenshin.

 

Tomoe caught her breath.

 

"From when you were human?"

 

 _'Human?'_ she thought, startled.

 

"She was this one's wife, that she was."

 

_'Wife?!'_

 

"She was also dead."

 

Tomoe forgot to breathe for a moment.

 

"Ah - I have heard of such things.  Strange things can happen between the many worlds.  This is not the woman you knew, then - or, not exactly.  She is a version who never knew you."

 

"...Our hearts knew each other."

 

 _'Yes.  They did,'_ she thought in wonder.

 

"In any case, it doesn't matter now.  You have lost the capacity to love."

 

"Yes...so you all keep saying...."

 

Tomoe frowned.

 

"You did surprisingly well against that Heartless.  Have you fought before?"

 

"This one is accustomed to a life of battles."

 

"That explains it, then.  You are a valuable asset to the Organization.  Come - we should RTC."  There was a strange whooshing sound, and when Tomoe looked around the corner again, they were gone.

 

"Hm."

 

At the house, Enishi nearly collided with her, barreling out the door.

 

"Enishi!"

 

"Sis!"  He threw his arms around her and squeezed tight.  "They said there was another giant Heartless!"

 

"I'm all right," she said soothingly.  "Someone fought the Heartless and destroyed it."

 

"Good.  _I'll_ kill a giant Heartless someday."

 

"I'm sure you will," she said, kissing his head.  "How are our guests?"

 

"Yahiko's out looking for their friends again.  The lady's cooking."

 

"Do you have homework?"

 

"Nope."

 

"Do I need to bother your teacher to double-check?"

 

"No!  I lied!  I have homework, I just...need help."

 

She kissed him again and began to lead him inside.  "Show it to me, love."

 

"Okay."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Axel missed ice cream again.  When Roxas and Xion RTC'd together, they found the new member standing uncertainly in the Grey Area.  "Hi, Xekshinn," Xion said, a little timidly.  Most of the other members seemed to ignore her or treat her with disdain, but Xekshinn responded with a bright smile.

 

"Hello, little one."

 

"How was work?"

 

"This one was taught to use magic in battle, but...a simple weapon is preferable, that it is."

 

"I don't like magic, either," Roxas said.  "Did you eat dinner yet?"

 

"Yes.  There doesn't seem to be much to do here after missions, other than training, eating, and sleeping."

 

Roxas and Xion glanced at each other, then smiled to find that they were in agreement, though neither spoke a word.  "You wanna hang out with us, Xekshinn?"

 

"Pardon?"

 

"Come play with us after we eat."

 

"All right," Xekshinn said happily.

 

In Roxas's room later, Axel sulked with a handheld video game as Roxas and Xion eagerly taught Xekshinn how to play Mario Kart.  He was apparently from a world where video games didn't exist, because everything was completely new to him, but he seemed amiable and willing to learn.

 

"Whoo, I won again!" Roxas proclaimed triumphantly.

 

"But you were really close, Xekshinn," Xion assured him.

 

"Is that so," Xekshinn laughed.  "You two seem to really enjoy this."

 

"Axel taught us how to play these," Roxas said.  "He always beats us unless he lets us win."

 

"I don't let you win," Axel protested, then, "Oi, watch the hair!" as Roxas playfully smushed his gelled spikes into his face.

 

"Axel teaches us a lot of things," Xion said affectionately, going over to hug her red-haired friend.

 

"Yeah, because we're stupid," Roxas pouted.  "So he has to teach us everything that everyone else has already known forever."

 

"Roxas, you're not _stupid_.  You've only been alive for a few _months_ \- do you know what normal babies are like?  They can't even talk or walk, much less destroy Heartless and make grilled cheese sandwiches and play video games.  You guys are _geniuses_ for your age.  Come on, eventually you _will_ catch up, you just have to keep learning and be patient."

 

Roxas slumped over and dropped his face on Axel's shoulder.  "Bleh."

 

Axel, still with an arm around Xion, affectionately ruffled Roxas's hair.  "For what it's worth, you _do_ act more like a teenager than a baby.  And some girls think that cluelessness is cute."

 

"What do girls have to do with anything?"

 

Xekshinn chuckled as he watched them.  "You three love each other very much, don't you."

 

The other Nobodies stared at him in surprise.  "Love?"

 

"We're Nobodies," Axel said, uncomfortably trying to pull away from the kids.  "We can't love.  We can't feel any emotion."

 

"Why do you all say that?" Xekshinn said curiously.  "It's true that at first there was a complete absence of feeling, but that seems to be gradually changing as time passes, that it does."

 

They went into the usual spiel about Nobodies expressing emotion based on past memories rather than present feeling.

 

"Is that so...."  Xekshinn stood up.  "Well, perhaps it would interest you to know that not all of this one's expressions have been feigned.  Also - I think that is the case for you three as well."

 

They stared at him.

 

He smiled and bowed before turning to leave.  "Good night."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

The next day, Roxas was assigned to take Xekshinn on a training mission and teach him about heart collection.  "Not that _you_ can actually collect hearts," he clarified as they emerged from the dark corridor.  "Only people who have Keyblades can do that.  But you should still know how Heartless work and everything."  He _loved_ being the teacher for once.  It made him feel smart and grown up, especially with a real grown up like Xekshinn hanging on his every word and politely following his lead.

 

Roxas looked around Beast's Castle, wondering where to begin.  "So, first of all, Heartless are the darkness in people's hearts - they actually _do_ have hearts, so I don't know why we call them 'Heartless.'"

 

"Just as strange as we 'Nobodies' having bodies but no hearts," Xekshinn said with a twinkle in his eyes.

 

"Uh...yeah.  Like that.  Just so you know, I'm not the one who came up with those names."

 

"Of course."

 

"Okay, so, Heartless are like monsters made from dark hearts, and the Keyblade releases those hearts and makes them clean again.  Then they go to Kingdom Hearts."

 

"Which we are building because its completion will allegedly restore our hearts to us."

 

"Yeah.  And, like, there's two kinds of Heartless, the gross-looking black kinds that I'm not supposed to fight because they're useless, and the weird colorful kinds with the hearts.  We're supposed to fight the colorful ones - but if you guys kill them, the hearts just float around and become more Heartless; but if me or Xion kill them with a Keyblade, they go to Kingdom Hearts."

 

"So what would you like this one to do on heart collection missions?"

 

"I guess you can fight them, just make sure my Keyblade finishes them off.  And if you want experience points and stuff, you can fight the gross Heartless.  And I think sometimes other members will fight giant Heartless to wear them down before me or Xion get to them."

 

"I see."

 

"Yeah, so...there's not really much for you to do...but you're learning, so that's okay."

 

Xekshinn's smile was affectionate.  "You've learned quite a lot also, haven't you."

 

"Huh?  Yeah, I guess...."

 

"This one was told that you and the little one were both born a very short time ago."

 

"I'm 122 days old," Roxas said defensively.  "That's a lot of days."

 

"And you are sure to have many, many more to come.  Already I see that you are using them well, that you are.  It's more than can be said for many people a hundred times your age, or more."

 

"...Are you complimenting me or insulting me?"

 

"Does it matter?  You decide on your own self-worth."

 

Roxas looked thoughtful, and Xekshinn did, too.

 

"...Okay whatever; we need to get to work now."

 

It was more fun being partnered with Xekshinn than with most of the other members.  The new Number IV was never rude or condescending, he seemed to genuinely like Roxas the way Axel did, and he was an impressive fighter but not a glory hog.

 

"What does 'Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu' mean?" Roxas asked.

 

"Hm?"

 

"You always yell that before you attack."

 

"It is this one's sword style, that it is.  Each technique was developed by the same man, Hiten Mitsurugi, and passed down from master to apprentice through many generations."

 

"Ohhh.  Cool.  How long have you been fighting?"

 

"This one became an apprentice at age ten."

 

"Ten days?  Wow...I was still kinda a zombie when I was ten...."  He frowned as he watched Xekshinn laugh.

 

"Ten _years_ , young one.  About 4,000 days."

 

" _Whoa_!  How old are you _now_?!" Roxas cried.

 

"Hm, this one has lost count...."

 

Roxas was frozen for a moment, in awe at the thought of being alive for so many days that you couldn't even _count_ them all.  "...I really am a baby, aren't I."

 

"Your youth is quite bothersome to you, isn't it," Xekshinn said compassionately.

 

"I _hate_ being stupid."

 

"You remind me of a young man I used to know...."

 

"A stupid one?" Roxas said sullenly.

 

"Full of passion, honorable even when forced into a criminal's life, courageous even in the face of terrible odds, a warrior's spirit in a child's body, full of so very much potential and always longing to get stronger, to grow into a man his loved ones can be proud of...you and Yahiko are much alike, young Roxas."

 

"Huh," Roxas said uncertainly.  "Well...come on, let's go see if we missed any Heartless in the West Wing."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Sanosuke had to keep telling himself that he was married now and probably going to have kids eventually, so this was good practice.

 

Still, it had been several days now of continuous childcare, and he _still_ wasn't used to being woken up in the mornings by Kenji being obnoxious; having to remember that the kid needed to be fed regularly, before he got hungry enough to snack on junk food (or other people's food); having to remember to be freaked out every time he noticed that it had been too quiet for too long, and wonder where Kenji had run off to this time....

 

Flirting, apparently, or the little-kid version of it.  A girl was in the Second District, about twelve or thirteen years old, wearing a long black coat, leaning down with her hands braced on her knees to talk to Kenji in that delighted way women used when they saw cute things.  "...I'm sure you're very brave, but the Heartless are dangerous, okay?  You shouldn't try to fight them."

 

" _You_ were fighting Heartless," Kenji pouted, "and you're a girl."

 

"Um...yes, but it's my job to fight Heartless, I'm _supposed_ to."

 

"So am I!"

 

"What you're supposed to do," Sanosuke interrupted, "is _tell me_ before running off on your own, kid.  Your dad'll kill me if I let anything bad happen to you."

 

"Hi, Sano."

 

"Hi."

 

The girl smiled at Sanosuke a little nervously.  "Hello....  Well, I'm glad that Kenji-chan has someone to look after him."

 

"Don't call me '-chan'!"

 

"I'll be going now," she continued.

 

"Wait a sec--  What's all this about it being your 'job' to fight Heartless?"

 

"Um...."

 

"A little girl like you?  You got a weapon or something?"

 

"Y-Yes, I do...."

 

"Well, let's see it," he said, hopeful and suspicious and confused and charmed and annoyed and intrigued all at once.

 

"I--  I'm afraid I...um...goodbye!"  She suddenly took off.

 

"Whoa, wait!"  Sanosuke tried to chase after her, but there was a strange whooshing sound after he lost sight of her, and when he turned the corner, she was gone.  "Weird...."

 

"Xion-nee went back in the shadow again," Kenji said unhappily, trotting up beside him.

 

"Huh?"

 

Across town, Xion emerged from the dark corridor and breathed out a relieved sigh.  "I need to be more careful...."  Cute as the little boy had been, she shouldn't even have talked to him, much less his adult guardian.  "Okay, focus, Xion.  Giant Heartless."

 

She finally found it in the Third District, in the passageway behind the big neon sign.  As soon as she disturbed it, it swooped out into the courtyard, and she had to circle back around to meet it in battle.  "I won't lose to the likes of you!"

 

As giant Heartless battles went, it was not particularly difficult.  She dispatched the monster with a decent number of panels left over, and was just going around collecting loot when a voice called out, "Wow, that _is_ impressive."

 

Xion gave a little shriek of surprise and whirled around.  Sanosuke was leaning against the wall, watching her, and Kenji was scampering over to her with a munny orb in his hand like a puppy playing fetch.

 

"You really do fight Heartless - with a _giant key_?" Sanosuke continued incredulously.

 

"You scared me," Xion gasped.  "Kenji, what are you doing here?"

 

"Following you.  What's your sword style, Xion-nee?  I wanna learn it."

 

"Sword style?"

 

Sanosuke chuckled, coming over to join them.  "People in this town are so weird....  Are you even from here, though?  You're weirder than anybody else I've seen around this place."

 

"Uh...I'm from...."

 

"You should treat us to supper," Kenji said.

 

"Huh?!"

 

"I wanna see where you live."

 

"You can't!  Uh--  Bye!"  Then she made a huge ominous shadow again.

 

Sanosuke didn't make the decision to jump in after her, it was as if he'd known all along that he was going to do it.  What he had to spare a second to think about was that he shouldn't leave Kenji behind in Traverse Town, because there was no telling if Sanosuke would ever be able to get back to fetch him.  The dark corridor they found themselves in was horrible, though, and Sanosuke knew he shouldn't have brought the kid here.  Either way, this _might_ not have been the best idea.

 

"I hate it here!" Kenji shouted.  "Get me out!"

 

"C'mon, Kenji, man up."

 

"Urgh...."

 

Xion hurried back to them.  "What are you guys _doing_ here?!"

 

"I really hope this isn't where you live."

 

"Of course it isn't!  I...."  She looked at Kenji and sighed.  "Well, I guess you can't cause much trouble in Twilight Town...come on."  She took Kenji's hand and led them to the world that lay on the threshold of two realms.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Axel was bored, wandering around shooting fireballs at Shadow Globs.  Demyx _loved_ these kinds of missions, but honestly, Axel preferred more of a challenge.  Nothing challenging enough to make him late for ice cream, but at least something more interesting than mindlessly cleaning up trash, which was what this felt like.

 

He filled his minimum mission quota.  He was too hot and bored to go for a full gauge, so Axel sighed, dusted his hands, and turned away to head for the ice cream shop.

 

"You missed one."

 

"Flaming--!"  Axel clapped a hand to his chest, as if he'd been startled, and tried to ignore the realization that he truly _was_ startled.  _'Xekshinn's a newbie and has no idea what he's talking about.  Nobodies don't have feelings.'_

 

The young woman who had spoken continued to gaze at him seriously.  She just looked like a normal Twilight Town resident, but Axel wasn't used to being interrupted by locals during missions.

 

She raised a finger and pointed.  "You're disposing of those shadows, right?  There's one up there, near the corner of the building."

 

"Thanks," Axel muttered.  Uneasily, he shot a spell at that one, too, but she showed no reaction to the use of magic.  She must have been watching him for a while.

 

"It should be us thanking you, actually.  Those shadows are bothersome, so I'm glad that you've come to help."  She cocked her head as if a thought had just occurred to her.  "You get rid of them every time, don't you.  They don't just disappear on their own."

 

"You know, it was nice chatting with ya, but I gotta go now."

 

"Ah, yes, I heard something about how you black coats aren't allowed to interact with those outside your Organization."

 

"Huh?  Have you talked to one of the other guys or something?"

 

She absently licked her lips.  "Yes."

 

"Heh, someone's gonna get in trouble...."

 

"I hope not.  It's silly to be so unsociable.  It seems you have better sense than that."

 

Axel realized that he was the one now chatting with an outsider, and closed his eyes in exasperation.  "You know, when I said I had to go, I really meant it...."

 

Two boys suddenly rounded the corner, arguing with each other.  "You're not even friends, you're just strays that Sis took in because she's way too nice!"

 

"We didn't _ask_ to be taken in, and if it's such a freaking bother, we'll just _leave_!"

 

"Get out, then!"

 

"Fine!  I just-!"

 

They both stopped short when they saw Axel and the girl.

 

"Hi, Sis."

 

"Enishi, I've told you not to give our guests a hard time."

 

"I don't care about _him_ ," the boy in the yellow kimono sniffed.  "We can get out of you guys' hair, it's fine.  I just--"

 

She turned to Axel with an air of dismissing the boys' petty squabble.  "My name is Yukishiro Tomoe.  This is my younger brother, Enishi, and this is Myôjin Yahiko, who's staying with us for a while.  Boys, this is...."  She glanced at Axel expectantly.

 

"I'm not telling you my name, because I have to _go_ ," Axel said in irritation.

 

A dark corridor suddenly opened nearby, and Roxas came barging out of it.  "Hey, Axel!"

 

Axel facepalmed.

 

"Can Xekshinn eat ice cream with us today?"

 

"No!"

 

"What?  Why not?!"

 

"Because I'm annoyed!"

 

"Kenshin!" Yahiko was yelling in shocked delight.  " _Kenshin_!"

 

"Hello, Yahiko."

 

"Where have you _been_?!"

 

"Hm, it's a bit difficult to explain, that it is...."

 

"I'm getting Megumi," Yahiko said happily, hurrying away.  Enishi, seeing the way his sister and Xekshinn were gazing at each other, leaned against a wall and sulked.

 

"It's good to see you again, Kenshin-san," Tomoe murmured.

 

"This one is glad to see you as well."

 

"Roxas, why did you bring him here?" Axel demanded.  "You should have dropped him off at the castle first."

 

"There's nothing to do at the castle, he'll be bored."

 

"That's not our problem!"

 

Another dark corridor opened, and Xion came hurrying out of it.  She wasn't alone, either.  "Axel?  What are you doing here?  I thought you'd be closer to the clock tower."

 

"I've been _trying_ to head there, but I keep getting interrupted...."

 

"Kenshin!" Sanosuke yelled.

 

"Hello, Sano."

 

Kenji wordlessly hurried over to his father and took his hand.

 

"Are you all right, Kenji?" Xekshinn asked.

 

"I'm fine."

 

"It's good to see you."

 

Kenji looked at Tomoe.  "Who's she?"

 

"Your Aunt Tomoe we've told you about."

 

Sanosuke's eyes widened.

 

"I thought she was dead," Kenji said.

 

"This one does not understand it very well himself, but it seems she's found some way to return."

 

Tomoe reached out to gently touch Kenji's hair.  "He looks so much like you...."

 

"Kenji is this one's son.  His mother passed away not so long ago."

 

Her eyes widened.  "I'm so sorry."

 

Xekshinn laid a hand over his own chest and said thoughtfully, "The grief is another thing that has been lost...."

 

Kenji caught sight of Enishi glaring at them.  "Why's Uncle Enishi so short?"

 

"This is Enishi as a boy.  He won't remember you, Kenji," Xekshinn said.

 

Kenji trotted over to him.  "If you're littler, I bet I can beat you now."

 

"You can't beat me at _anything_ ," Enishi snapped.

 

"I bet I can."  Kenji pointed at Enishi's skateboard.  "What's that?"

 

"Wow, you're stupid."

 

"I'm _not_ stupid!  Let me ride it!"

 

"You don't 'ride' it, idiot--  Ugh; here, let me show you."

 

In the meantime, Sanosuke had been demanding, "Kenshin, what _happened_ to you?  What's with that coat?"

 

"It's a long story, that it is...."

 

"We can talk while we eat," Tomoe suggested.  "Why don't we all go to the café over there once Yahiko-kun gets back?"

 

"Yahiko's here, too?!" Sanosuke exclaimed.  "Megumi, what about Megumi?  Ken--"

 

About that moment was when Yahiko came hurrying back with Megumi, and the newlyweds rushed to reunite.

 

The ten of them spent a long time at the café, talking for quite a while after they'd finished their food.  Kenji and Enishi both got bored as soon as the meal was over and went outside to play with Axel, Roxas, and Xion in the plaza.

 

"...but that doesn't make any _sense_ ," Sanosuke said.

 

Xekshinn shrugged.  "This one has no other story for you."

 

"A guy can't lose his heart and then just walk around like nothing happened, it's ridiculous!"

 

"Yet here we are...."

 

"What _I_ don't understand is the Yukishiros," Megumi said.  "You really are only eighteen?"

 

"Yes," Tomoe said.

 

"The real Tomoe would be in her late 30s, at least....  And you don't know Kenshin-san?"

 

Tomoe hesitated.  "I...feel as if he's somehow familiar...yet I don't remember ever seeing him before yesterday."

 

"Hey," said Yahiko.  "Let's not get distracted from the actual problem.  We're in a completely different _world_.  We have to figure out how to get home to Japan."

 

"And get home in one piece, too," Megumi added.  "Kenshin-san...."

 

"Hm?"

 

"You said you've been different ever since the attack - you _look_ different, too."

 

Sanosuke flicked one of Xekshinn's ears, though the Nobody only responded with a placid smile.

 

"Do you have any idea how we can return you to normal?  If you really did lose your heart...is there a way we can return it to you?"

 

"This condition is not a terrible one," Xekshinn murmured.  "This one will be content as long as we all eventually return home."

 

"Kenshin, your ears are _pointed_ ," Sanosuke said flatly, "it looks creepy."

 

"I suppose I'll never see you again if you return to your home world," Tomoe murmured.

 

Xekshinn gazed at her.  "This one does not have to go," he murmured back.

 

" _What_?!" his friends yelled.  "Kenshin, you _have_ to come back to Japan!"

 

"People need you," Megumi reminded him.

 

"This one's services are needed here, also.  There is great darkness to be fought in this world, and in many others; not only Japan."

 

"What about Kenji, huh?"

 

Xekshinn shrugged.  "He can choose to return to Japan, if you are willing to raise him, or he can choose to remain in his father's care.  This one still seems to retain an attachment to his son, and will meet his needs accordingly."

 

"Kenshin, this is crazy!  You can't just never come home!"

 

"You really do have no feelings, do you."

 

"There are a _few_ feelings," Xekshinn said humbly.  "And this one does not find the loss to be an unduly terrible thing."

 

"Kenshiiiiin!"

 

"Kenshin-san, I know you've had a difficult life," Megumi said, making an effort to gentle her tone.  "And I know you'll never stop grieving for Risa-san--"  Her eyes widened as she looked at Tomoe, and she added thoughtfully, "...just like you've never stopped grieving for your first wife.  But...Kenshin-san...you can't make a decision like this without your--  your heart.  You _know_ it has to have affected your judgment somehow."

 

Xekshinn grasped Tomoe's hand under the table and didn't say anything.

 

Yahiko shook his head.  "Okay, two objectives.  Find Kenshin's heart, and find out how to get back home.  Everyone got it?"

 

There were various indications of assent.

 

"Okay, so now - we have two more mouths to feed, and the Yukishiros have already had to put up with us for a while...how are we gonna do this?"

 

With Tomoe's help, Sanosuke was able to rent an apartment down the hall from hers that afternoon.  He, Megumi, Yahiko, and Kenji would live there for as long as they needed to.  Xekshinn, of course, would return to the Castle That Never Was.  "When this one leaves that Organization, it will have to be for good, that it will."

 

The next day, Tomoe came home from class to find her brother curled into a corner of the couch, playing video games.  He usually only did that when he was upset, so when he didn't return her greeting, she left him alone and went to take a bath.

 

He was playing in the hallway, right outside the bathroom door, when she came out, though he was still ignoring her.  She started dinner and then sat down at her desk in the living room to work on homework as the meal warmed up.  Enishi dragged a chair up behind her and sat on it so he could lean against her as he played.

 

Enough was enough.  "Enishi, dear, I can't concentrate on my work unless you use earbuds."

 

"I don't wanna wear earbuds!" he shouted, breaking his silence at last.  "I hate earbuds!"

 

"Then play in your room."

 

"No!"

 

"Then stop playing altogether."

 

" _No_!"

 

"I'm about to get angry with you."  Although it was true, she also said it because he _hated_ getting on her bad side, and most of the time, the threat was enough to get him to cooperate.

 

"I hate school," he burst out, pushing aside the game and squeezing his arms around her.  "I hate it I hate it I _hate_ it, I hate the other kids and I hate the teachers and I hate _everything_...."

 

She managed to get her arm free so that she could embrace him.  "Dearest, did you try my suggestion?"

 

"Yes!"

 

"Did you, really?"

 

"Gaaaahhh!"  He hid his face against her shoulder and was tense and quiet for a long time, which was usually the closest he ever came to crying.  Then he finally pulled back and said tightly, "I hate it here.  I want to see other worlds and meet _different people_.  I don't wanna be _trapped_ here the rest of my life.  I'm gonna build a ship some day and get us out of here, but it's _hard_ and it'll take _so long_ and I can't _stand_ it...."

 

"You make things so difficult for yourself," she murmured sadly, and did her best to comfort him until he got hungry and she could tell his spirits had returned.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

After work, Numbers VIII, XIII, and XIV had to eat their ice cream on the run, because Axel could neither sit on the clock tower alone while he knew his best friends were doing extracurricular activities without him, nor convince them to deny the instincts they'd inherited from Sora.

 

"Xekshinn is our friend, too."

 

"Yeah.  He's not our BEST friend like you are - but we like him."

 

"He's nice."

 

"So if he needs help, we can't just sit here eating ice cream and not help him."

 

"That would be mean."

 

"We have to help him."

 

Axel turned away from their puppy eyes and grumbled, "You two do _not_ play fair."

 

The trio went with Sanosuke and Yahiko to search for clues in more technologically advanced worlds.  Xekshinn himself actually did not join them  "He's got a different job," Sanosuke explained.  "He has to find his heart."

 

"So he's out fighting Heartless, then?" Roxas said.

 

"Huh?"

 

"The more Heartless we fight," Xion explained, "the more hearts go to Kingdom Hearts.  Once Kingdom Hearts is finished, we'll get our hearts back."

 

Sanosuke and Yahiko looked at each other.  "So we should be killing Heartless?!"

 

" _Someone_ has to figure out how to get home," Yahiko said.  "And we can fight Heartless as we go, and kill two birds with one stone."

 

"Actually," Axel spoke up, "only Heartless defeated by Keyblades count toward Kingdom Hearts."

 

"Oh yeah," Roxas remembered.

 

"So what's Xekshinn doing, then?" Xion asked.

 

"There might be other ways for Nobodies to get their hearts back...."

 

"One thing we _do_ know is that we're never gonna get home by just standing around talking," Yahiko said meaningfully.  "Let's get going."

 

It took a few days.  They tried world after world, sometimes learning useful information and sometimes not.  They eventually stumbled into a completely new world, previously undiscovered, which looked promising.

 

"Flying kids vs. werewolves," Axel remarked in mild interest as they watched.  "Looks fun."

 

"Which ones are the good guys?" Xion asked anxiously, her Keyblade already out.

 

"Well, that ugly lug's using the six-year-old girl as a hostage," Sanosuke observed, "so I'm gonna put my money on the bird kids."

 

"Except the six-year-old just took out his eye," Yahiko added.  "Some of these worlds are so crazy, I can't take anything at face value anymore...."

 

They ended up just watching in hiding, taking in who were using dirty tactics, and picking up tidbits from the things the opponents shouted as they fought.  It finally ended with the oldest and youngest winged girls being captured and carted off, the blind winged boy unconscious, the oldest boy badly injured and left for dead, the youngest boy falling into a river and being swept downstream, and the remaining girl fleeing as her flock was scattered and accidentally crashing straight into Axel, knocking him out of the tree he'd been crouching in.

 

"I'll go fetch the Gazzy boy," Xion volunteered, opening a dark corridor.

 

Roxas handed an Elixir to Yahiko.  "Go make that hurt guy drink this.  I'm gonna follow the werewolves and see where they're taking those girls."

 

"Got it."

 

"Who are you?!" the girl cried hysterically.  "Are you from the School?!"

 

Axel sounded cautious.  "Uh...would that be a good thing or a bad thing if I was?"

 

They eventually managed to regroup, gathering everyone together, reviving or healing as needed, and making introductions.

 

"What _is_ this stuff?!"  Fang exclaimed, turning the empty Elixir bottle over and over in his hands.  "A minute ago, I felt like I was dying, now I feel like I could fly halfway around the world in one go."

 

"Elixirs are really good," Xion said.  "No matter how bad you're hurt or how sick you are, they'll make you feel better."

 

"I _know_ there's a catch somewhere," Sanosuke grumbled.

 

"I don't care, it tastes _so good_ ," Gazzy said rapturously.

 

"Actually," Xion corrected, "yours was just a Potion.  You were mostly okay, just coughing a lot."

 

"A _Potion_?!" Nudge yelped.  "Like in fairy tales?!"

 

" _Who_ did you guys say you were again?" Iggy said suspiciously.

 

Meanwhile, Roxas emerged from a dark corridor to find himself in a long white hallway with a funny smell, lots of doors, and no windows.  All the doors he tried were locked, so he got bored and used his Keyblade on the next one.  An alarm sounded when it popped open, so Roxas warily kept his weapon out and entered with caution.

 

There were a lot of computers inside, and even more cages.  Some of the cages were empty, but the others mostly held very strange and very sad-looking creatures.  Roxas stared at one for a while, a creature with a dog's face and body, very hairy arms and legs that almost looked human, an alligator's tail, and a pair of large, unkempt wings, one of them strangely twisted and crusted with dried blood.  "Um...hi."

 

The creature licked its lips, still gazing at him with sad, sad eyes.

 

"Are you in there because you hurt someone, or because someone's hurting you?"

 

"...."

 

Roxas finally raised his Keyblade and unlocked the cage.

 

The creature immediately struggled to its feet and rushed out of the cage - straight at a cluster of computers.  It hurled itself at them, knocking many of them to the floor, and started destroying them the best it could with canine teeth and stubby human hands.

 

Roxas shrugged and began smashing his Keyblade onto the computers as well.  The creature yipped in gratitude and turned its attention to the cages.  Roxas was about to help with that, too, but shouting people in bulky outfits were now bursting into the room, and he had to fight.

 

They started shooting at him, and he was surprised to find how much HP each bullet knocked out.  Two shots dropped him to a critical level, and he knew a third would finish him off.  He healed himself quickly and focused hard on blocking, since it seemed both to be the most effective defense and to take more speed and concentration than usual.  He was pleased when one bullet seemed to ricochet straight back at the person who'd fired, injuring him.

 

"Take him alive!" someone yelled.  There was finally a pause in the gunfire, and Roxas seized the opportunity to shoot off a Firaga spell.  The explosive result was unexpectedly painful, and he realized that casting a spell like that in close quarters probably had not been a great idea.  No matter - the strange creatures had all fled by now, his attackers seemed to have gotten the worst of it, and he renewed his assault with strong physical attacks, trying to beat his way out of the room.

 

Then he got shot with some sort of weird Sleep spell that only knocked off a couple of HP, but which made him sluggish and sleepy until he finally collapsed.  _'These guys don't fight like Heartless at_ all _....'_

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

The door opened, though this time it wasn't more interrogators.  They had another prisoner with them, an unconscious teenage boy in a black coat whom they dragged across the room and shoved into a cage, handcuffing both his hands to the bars.  Someone unzipped his coat and shoved up the tank top underneath in order to slap sensors onto his chest.  After they'd similarly geared up his head as well, they marched out of the room again without a word to the other prisoners.

 

Angel chuckled softly.  "They're super-mad at him...he wrecked a whole lab, set a lot of experiments loose, and hurt a lot of goons pretty bad."

 

"Sounds like we just met our new best friend," Max said.  "Can you tell if he's a recombinant or anything?"

 

Angel was quiet a moment as she sifted through the boy's dreams.  He shifted in his sleep and mumbled, "At least...tell me...your name...."

 

"There's something weird about him," Angel said uneasily, "but I can't figure out what."

 

"Well, can you at least tell if he's evil or not?"

 

Angel smiled.  "He's not really giving off evil vibes, so I hink he's okay."

 

Then they had to sit around and wait for the boy to wake up.  He finally did so with a groan, mumbling that his head hurt, then exclaimed in surprise and dismay when he found that he couldn't move his hands.  "What is this?!"

 

"You're at the School," Max said quickly.  "We don't have much time, they'll know you've woken up.  Is there any way you can help us escape?  What kind of special abilities do you have?"

 

"Huh?"

 

"Can you still fight even without your big key?" Angel asked.

 

"Key?" Max echoed, confused.

 

The door opened, and the girls groaned in frustration.

 

"Who unzipped my coat?  What are all these wires?" Roxas said, staring down at himself.

 

The scientist and his bodyguards came to a halt before Roxas's cage.  "Subject 1314.  Explain yourself and your origins."

 

"Get these off me," Roxas said, tugging at the handcuffs.

 

"You are not in a position to make demands.  There is currently heated debate about whether to study you further or simply discard you."

 

Roxas sighed and summoned his Keyblade, which was _really_ awkward to hold under these circumstances, but manageable.  His cage filled with sparkling light for a minute, then the handcuffs dropped to the floor.  He shifted to his knees and dismissed his weapon so that he could start pulling all the sensors off his body.

 

"How did you _do_ that?" the scientist was shouting.  "Where does that weapon come from and disappear to?!"

 

"I don't like talking to people who are confusing," Roxas said, "or who hurt me."  He smoothed out his tank top, zipped his coat back up, then shocked everyone by disappearing into a black portal that opened out of nowhere and then vanished.

 

"FIND HIM!"

 

Even though Angel had been pretty much expecting it, she still gave a startled yelp at the sudden sound of a dark corridor opening right inside her cage.

 

"You said you wanted to escape, right?" Roxas said.

 

"Yes!"  She wrapped her arms around his neck and let him pull her into the dark.

 

He dropped her off on the roof, because he figured that someone with wings would like to be close to the sky.  Then he went back for the other girl, who shrieked and hit him when he popped into her cage.  "Ooww."  Roxas rubbed his face resentfully.  There wasn't much room, so the two of them were kind of squished together.  The mean guy was still yelling, and the others were shooting into the empty cage were Roxas and Angel had been a minute before.

 

"Where's Angel?!" the girl screamed in his ear.

 

" _Ow_.  I'll take you there if you stop hitting me and yelling at me."

 

She grabbed him and shook him a little, wincing when her elbow knocked against the side of the cage.  "Get us out of here."

 

Roxas got grazed by a bullet just before they vanished.  In the dark corridor, he hissed in pain and irritation, and rummaged around for a Potion he'd picked up during his earlier mission.  "Man, I really need to level up."

 

"Where's Angel?!"

 

"On the roof.  Come on, you'll get sick if you stay in here too long without a coat."

 

Angel had been smart enough to stay hidden on the roof rather than immediately taking to the air where Itex's surveillance would detect her.  She and Max flung their arms around each other, and Roxas tried to wait patiently through their reunion.

 

"We've got to get back to Fang and the others," Max finally said.  "I just wish we had a clue where we are."

 

"Can't we fly out and find a map in the nearest town?" Angel suggested.

 

"Yeah."  Max turned to Roxas.  "Hey."

 

"Hi."

 

"I'm Angel," Angel said warmly.  "This is my, uh...."  She cocked her head and smiled a little.  "My best friend, Max."

 

"Oh - you guys have best friends, too?" said Roxas.

 

Max gave him a starnge look, unsure how to respond.

 

"I'm Roxas."

 

"Thanks for helping us out, Roxas."  Max grinned.  "Whatever your superpowers are, they sure came in handy back there."

 

"Those enemies were really strong...."

 

"Will you come with us?" Angel asked.  "Your friends stayed behind to help Gazzy and the others, right?"

 

"The other flying people?  Yeah.  I hope everyone stayed together and didn't split up or anyting."  Roxas meant to corridor to wherever Axel was, but he was too fascinated by the sight of Max and Angel leaping off the building and spreading their wings to soar like enormous birds.  He jumped off the roof and Glided after them.

 

The girls were amused and curious, circling around to match Roxas's slower pace and watching with interest as he kept gradually losing altitude and had to climb up things in order to get airborne again.  Max finally tried hoisting him up very high into the air and dropping him.  The higher start point allowed him to go much farther than launching from trees had.

 

"How do you fly without wings?" she asked.

 

"I got a Glide panel after my first Neverland mission.  When I'm actually _in_ Neverland, I can fly as good as you guys do, but in other worlds I have to keep jumping off things to Glide."

 

This took a very long expanded explanation that Max thought was ridiculous, except that the awed-looking Angel kept insisting he was telling the truth.  "Max!  Max!  I wanna go to Neverland!  I wanna meet Peter Pan and fairies and mermaids!"

 

"Are you _kidding_?  Pirates and crocodiles and monsters?  _No_!"

 

Luckily for everyone, the group left behind after the attack hadn't split up, since Axel and Xion could simply corridor to wherever Roxas was.  However, though they ended up at the same facility where Max, Angel, and Roxas had been held prisoner, they were not in the exact same rooms, and therefore completely missed each other.  This meant that Roxas and the girls flew all the way to the river only to discover that everyone was gone, and the dark corridor Roxas opened to find them again ended up straight back where they had escaped from.  He got yelled at a lot for that, as well as, "Why didn't you TELL me you could have just teleported all this way?!"

 

In the meantime, while Xion, Sanosuke, Yahiko, and Fang wre fighting Erasers, and Iggy and Gazzy were happily blowing up stuff, Axel was using the myriad distractions to get some research done.  Unlike his younger friends, the Japanese warriors, and the bird kids, Number VIII knew how to be stealthy.  "Hmm...so, if this machine can open a portal into the reality of any story, and this manga series here really is where Xekshinn & co. came from....  Guess I'll corridor it to the castle for safekeeping, then."

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

It was hard to call it a 'date' when there was another woman and two energetic young boys tagging along.  Still, it felt like one, being here in Disney Town on a beautiful day with Xekshinn.  Whenever Enishi wasn't looking, Tomoe reached to hold Xekshinn's hand, and he always smiled and maintained the connection.

 

"I bet I can beat you at Rumble Racing," Enishi bragged to Xekshinn.

 

"Is that so?" the Nobody said politely.

 

"Enishi," Tomoe admonished, "don't force him into something he doesn't care to do."

 

"This one won't mind," Xekshinn reassured her.  "This place seems to be designed for recreation, that it does.  If Enishi is entertianed, this one will participate."

 

"All right.  Just don't let him push you around."

 

Xekshinn, having never driven a vehicle in his life before, lost the first race miserably, though he didn't seem to mind at all.  Kenji had gotten excited watching the race and wanted to join in the next round, and it didn't take much urging for both women to join them as well.  Though Xekshinn seemed to have quickly gotten the hang of it, he had no competitive spirit; in the end, Enishi let his sister place first, Megumi rather gleefully came in third, and Xekshinn let his wildly whooping son place fourth.

 

"That was actually somewhat enjoyable," Xekshinn mused to himself, watching the first three winners receive their awards.

 

Kenji tugged at his sleeve, apparently seeming to enjoy having a Nobody for a father more than when Xekshinn had been human.  "Again, Dad, again!"

 

Fruitball was even better, since Enishi had an absolute blast hurling things as hard as he could at Xekshinn.  Megumi soon got ticked off at his attitude and started targeting him with vicious accuracy.

 

"Ahahaha...this game seems to be rather therapeutic," Xekshinn remarked to Tomoe near the center line as they looked at Enishi and Megumi's mini-war.

 

"Kenshin-san, I'm about to shove this apple pie into your face.  Please be more menacing so I won't feel like a bully."

 

They were all covered with an _absolute mess_ of fruit pulp afterward and had to shower, even though they'd been wearing protective coverings over their clothes.  Tomoe, who was not usually too concerned with her looks, experienced the worst worry about the state of her hair than she ever had in her life.  Xekshinn, however, met her outside with a bright smile, and even stole a kiss while Megumi was slathering more sunscreen over the whining boys.  Tomoe forgot about her hair.

 

Making their own ice cream was fun, too, though the boys got messy again and then finished eating much more quickly than the others.  Megumi rolled her eyes at their rowdinesss and took them off to the Rumble Racing track again, leaving Xekshinn and Tomoe to finish their ice cream alone.

 

Their fingers were entwined again without them even pausing to consider first.  Tomoe finished eating and tried to just wait, but then Xekshinn squeezed her hand and she couldn't help leaning over to kiss him, the two of them luxuriating in the absence of hostile eyes and in the taste of sugar.

 

Their lips finally drew apart, and he rested his forehead against hers.  She closed her eyes, taking in his familiar scent.  "I know you," she murmured.  "I only met you a short time ago, yet I feel like I've known you in my dreams my entire life...."

 

"You were what kept me sane," he whispered.  "All those nights full of blood and death, yet the scent of hakubaikô always cleared the haze from my mind...."  He suddenly pulled away, a pained look crossing his face.

 

"Kenshin-san...I feel bad," she said, even as his words made her wonder.  "You are supposed to be looking for your heart, are you not?  Yet here you are with us...."  She _loved_ spending time with him, but it wasn't right to keep him from his real work.

 

"Tomoe," he said softly, so that she met his eyes again, "this one _does_ seek his heart.  It seems to be within reach again, here with you."

 

She smiled, tears pricking her eyes.  She couldn't speak, but she hoped he still knew what joy it brought her to hear him say that.

 

Yet he seemed now to be drawing away, tucking his hands in close to himself, dropping his eyes, his expression now more distressed than at peace.

 

"What's wrong?"

 

"Tomoe...living here in these other worlds, you don't know the things about me that you did when you were my wife."

 

She waited, bracing herself.

 

"Watching me come in night after night to wash the blood off these hands...."

 

"Tell me," she said quietly.

 

He did so, speaking for a long time in a low, even tone.  She listened without a word.  Then they were silent for a while, letting his blood-soaked past lie between them.

 

Finally she said, "Do they know?  Your friends Sagara-san and her husband, and Myôjin-san?"

 

"Yes...it was all told to them a few years ago."

 

She smiled a little.  Seeing that, he felt his heart rise, and knew that it was a lie that he had truly lost it.  "They couldn't stop gushing about you.  Every day, yet more stories about all the lives you've saved, all the people you've helped; your compassion even for those who called themselves your enemies.  They even did tell me about the blood, just a little."  She reached out to touch the hilt of his sword, sliding her fingers partway down the sheath.  "I can still love such a man:  one who, even with such a past, would wield a sword like this."

 

"Tomoe...."

 

It was a while before they headed back, looking for Megumi and the boys again.  Twilight was falling, and it would be good to be able to see the evening light show together.

 

At first, they thought the screams were just from people on the rides.  But less than a second later, Xekshinn recognized them as screams of terror, not enjoyment, and he broke into a run.  His inhuman speed took him nearly to the next area in a flash, and then he remembered that he could get there even faster through a dark corridor.  He was already too far away for Tomoe to see the portal swallow him up.

 

Having fallen behind, she ran also, frustration coursing through her at the slowness of her pace compared to his.  Something terrible was happening, and if her brother got hurt, or Kenji or Megumi....  _'Please be safe.  Please, please save them, Kenshin-san.'_

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

The boys were actually rather delighted, even _after_ they realized the monster was real and not some kind of show.

 

"Heartless!  Heartless!" Kenji crowed, waving his shinai.

 

"Let me go, woman!" Enishi yelled at Megumi.  "I can take him!"

 

"Get _back_ here, both of you," Megumi hissed, hauling backwards.  "That thing is enormous!"

 

"Die, demon, die!" Kenji shouted.  "Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu--!"

 

"RYUU TSUI SEN!"  All three of them froze in momentary awe when they saw Xekshinn crashing out of nowhere, slashing his sword across the entire Heartless and leaving a spray of shadows in his wake.

 

"DAD YOU'RE AWESOME!!" Kenji screamed.

 

Xekshinn actually stumbled just a little, unaccustomed to being praised by his son; then, back to business, he whirled to face his opponent.  "Holding back is pointless against a non-human enemy," he said grimly, flipping the edge of his blade.  Even if the creture before him was the darkness of a human heart, defeating it did not mean a death.  He could fight without restraint.  ...Honestly, it was a bit exilarating.  "Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu:  Ryuu Sou Sen!"

 

He was winning.  The Heartless was strong, but Xekshinn's HP had not yet dropped to a critical level.  It seemed like half the park had gathered to cheer him on as if it was a performance - which made him a bit worried about their safety, but it would be all right if he could end this quickly enough.  Two more strikes ought to do it--

 

The Heartless had figured out how to fight dirty at this point.  Sensing that its end was near, it aimed its next attack, not at its opponent, but at the crowd of NPCs.

 

As if in slow motion, Xekshinn watched the dark missle heading straight for his child, his friend, the woman he loved and her brother.  There was no way they'd be able to evade the blast in time.  Repelling it would only send it hurtling into a different set of bystanders.  His only hope was to intercept it and counter its force as best he could.

 

Xekshinn was already in the line of fire; he had no time to cry out an attack name.  He simply threw all his strength into an opposing blow, all his power as an inhuman creature who was never meant to exist.

 

Tomoe and Megumi both screamed when they saw Xekshinn engulfed by what looked like a black and purple explosion.  Enishi flung himself over his sister to shield her, and Kenji shrieked in pain as shredded remnants from the attack swept over them, seeming to singe their flesh and dusting them with shadows like blood.

 

"Kenji!" Megumi shouted desperately, reaching for him.

 

Xekshinn, having come to this world for recreation reather than work, had almost no panels, and he eschewed magic even when he was prepared.  All he had was the ever-present sword in his hand, and with no way to heal and a warning blaring in his ears, he knew he was near death.

 

No matter.  His dear ones were battered but alive, and one advantage of his transformed body was that he processed physical damage so differently.  He could fight with no hindrance of pain until he literally dropped to zero.  _'End this now.  As long as it can no longer hurt anyone, it doesn't matter what happens to me.'_   Xekshinn ignored the persistent warning and threw himself at the monster.

 

The mechanics of combat were different here.  It managed to block the first blow in his combo and then counterattacked.  Xekshinn had so little health left, that was all it took.  His body dissipated in midair, leaivng only an empty black coat to fall at Kenji's feet.  "Dad," he said blankly.  He crouched down and gently touched one of the silver drawstrings, as Megumi shouted and Tomoe sobbed behind him.

 

"RAAAGGGHHH!"  Enishi, alight with fierce joy at the thought of being able to fight for real, and simultaneously full of helpless terror at the sight of his sister's grief, was brought up short _yet again_.  "LET ME GO!" he screamed at the punk who held him.

 

"Are you crazy?" Kiyosato Akira snapped.  "If you're gonna fight a giant Heartless that even a guy like _him_ couldn't kill, at least don't be an idiot about it."  He shoved a Bueno Volcano at the boy.

 

Enishi's eyes lit up.  " _Yes_!"  He swallowed it in two gulps and burst into flame.

 

Kenji hurried over and demanded, "Me too."

 

"Kenji!" Megumi shouted after him.

 

From the back of the ice cream shop, Huey emerged, carrying a stack of tiny bowls, and blinked at the scene in confusion.

 

Akira smiled.  "Plucky kid.  Eat this and you'll burn everything you touch, so be careful, okay?"

 

"Okay."  Now also wreathed in flames, Kenji ran to grab the Heartless's massive ankle, and hung on for dear life.  It shuddered and roared, but he refused to be dislodged until the Command Style wore off.  _'It's okay that you can't fight anymore, Dad.  Me and Enishi will finish it for you.'_

 

"You _are_ gonna pay for all that ice cream, right?" Huey said meaningfully as Akira snatched yet another dessert off the counter.

 

"This is an emergency!" Akira said indignantly, gesturing at the Heartless.

 

Huey waved his wing dismissively.  "Heartless, Schmeartless; we got a business to run here!"

 

Akira rolled his eyes and downed the Double Crunch as quickly as he could.

 

"Huey," Dewey hissed, "some guy was fighting the Heartless and lost.  Just let people take the ice cream."

 

"Oh."

 

As soon as the crystal wing blades burst from Akira's back in a blaze of light, he seized two of them and rushed into battle.

 

On the roof above Pete's Rec Room, Saïx stood and watched.  Number IV's presence in this world had been puzzling, and he would have been reprimanded for associating so closely with humans if he hadn't been stupid enough to get killed first.  _'Lord Xemnas will be displeased.  It's difficult enough to recruit Nobodies strong enough to suit our Organization, and when they keep letting themselves be eliminated....'_

 

He sighed.  Xemnas would be informed later.  At present, there was work to do.  The Heartless was still rampaging through Disney Town, and though several humans were now assaulting it, it was clear they wouldn't last long, even though the monster had little health left.  "Waste of effort.  I need a Keybearer."  He would have to keep an eye on this world and assign one of them here when the giant Heartless respawned.  "Hah!"

 

Easy enough to leap down and catch the Heartless with a deathblow as he landed.  The monster gave one last massive shudder and dissolved into shadow, much as Xekshinn had earlier.

 

Ragged cheers broke out from what remained of the crowd.  Saïx, having no wish to be mobbed by grateful citizenry again, was keen to leave at once, but he had to retrieve Xekshinn's coat first.

 

Megumi went weak with relief when she saw Kenji trotting back toward her.  "Kenji!" she cried gladly, running to meet him.  Then, "Kenji!" again, more distressed this time, since the boy was injured.  And once more, " _Kenji_!" in a full-blown rage, and he flinched in both pain and apprehension as she snatched him into a furious embrace.

 

"We're okay, Megumi, we killed the monster...."  A nice cow lady came and gave him a Hi-Potion, and he didn't hurt anymore after he drank it, but Megumi was still yelling at him and then she was crying.  He remembered what had happened to his dad, and now it was his heart that hurt.  "Now my mom _and_ my dad are gone...you have to take care of me, Megumi.  Okay?  I'll try not to make you mad."

 

She just hugged him again and kept crying.

 

Akira saw a woman kneeling, clutching the coat of the man who'd died protecting them all, and his triumph faded to sadness.  He made his way over to her and said hesitantly, "He...was extraordinarily brave."

 

"I'll never see him again...."

 

Not sure what else to do, he sat down near her to silently keep her company.

 

Enishi crept up, having been given a Hi-Potion by Clarabelle as well.  "Sis...."  He sat beside her and rested his chin on her shoulder, longing to be praised but still intimidated by her grief.  "I helped kill the Heartless."

 

"Oh, Enishi...."  She put an arm around him and held him close.  He closed his eyes - it would have to do for now, until she was happy again.

 

A minute later, Saïx came marching up with no warning and reached to yank the coat out of Tomoe's hands.

 

"No!"  She clenched her fingers tighter around the thick fabric.

 

"This belongs to us."

 

"Get away from my sister!"

 

Saïx batted away the enraged boy, though it took more than the minimal effort he expected.  Then he also had to fight off the other young man standing guard over her.  Why were these humans making such a fuss?

 

"You can't take it," Tomoe insisted when he seized the coat again, though this time, she was unable to withstand his superior strength.  The coat was torn out of her hands.  "No!  Please!  It's all I have left of him!"

 

"That which was destroyed was merely a shell."  Saïx opened a corridor and turned away.  "You can only have him if his other half is also destroyed."

 

"Please wait!"

 

The portal closed, leaving the place where Saïx had been standing empty.  "His...other half...?"

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

It was a depressed group who met up again that night.  Axel, knowing there was nothing they could do to help, somberly led Roxas and Xion away to RTC.  "Xekshinn's room's gonna be empty tonight," Xion said unhappily.

 

Roxas also looked glum.  "His room was already empty.  Like he knew he wasn't gonna be there long."

 

Axel _hated_ having to see their sad faces.  "Come on, I'm gonna teach you how to make apple pie."

 

"Does apple pie make you feel better?"

 

"Well...it doesn't make you feel worse."

 

Enishi also hated seing his sister's sad face, so he made her play Mortal Kombat with him.  He was surprised that she was able to beat him several times.

 

Yahiko assured the Sagaras that he'd be fine with Kenji, and left them to comfort each other.  He found that teaching the kid some sword moves was a better coping mechanism than he expected - it was like grieving for Kenshin and having a part of Kenshin here with him at the same time.  It was also unexpectedly enjoyable when Kenji taught him how to skateboard in return.  Then they settled on a rooftop and Yahiko told the boy stories about his father until they both feel asleep under the stars.

 

Axel, Roxas, and Xion came back for them the following afternoon.  "We haven't even caught a hint of anyone else from the wedding," Yahiko said after they'd finished their farewells.  "If you give us the 'remote,' we can come back and search some more if it turns out anyone else is missing."

 

"Sure."  Axel handed over the device, then went to the control panel in the machine itself.  "Okay, guys - everyone who's going, stand together there on the yellow square."

 

As she watched them all assembling, Tomoe absently squeezed her brother's hand tighter and tighter until he finally said, "Geez, Sis.  You wanna go with 'em or something?"

 

"Yes," she whispered.

 

He stared at her for a minute, nonplussed.  Then he finally sighed, pulled his hand free, and hugged her.  "Then let's go."

 

"Enishi?" she gasped.

 

He smiled at her.  "Let's go to a new world, Neesan."  He was gratified when she hugged him back.

 

In Meiji Tokyo, the travelers returned to find that a giant Heartless was terrorizing the countryside, its cries audible for miles.  "Man, we just got _back_ from work," Axel complained.  "I should be chilling with ice cream right now, not putting in unpaid overtime."

 

"That Heartless sounds sad," Xion said.

 

"Huh?"

 

Sanosuke and Yahiko were glad to find that they were joined in the fight by some familiar faces.  "Makimachi!"

 

"MYÔJIN!  You're alive?!"

 

"Yeah!"  _'Most of us, at least....'_   "We've got the fox and Kenji, too!  Anyone else missing from Sano's wedding other than Kenshin?"

 

"Huh?!"

 

It was not the easiest conversation to have while battling a giant monster, but Yahiko eventually learned that everyone was accounted for.  Everyone had been worried sick since the disastrous wedding, and it hadn't helped that shadowy monsters had started popping up all over town since then.  This Heartless, however, was by far the biggest, and powerful even when faced by the Oniwabanshû.

 

"Sano!" Axel yelled.  "Tell everyone to get lost, you all are just getting in the way!"

 

"We're not gonna let strangers from another world protect _our_ home while we sit back and do nothing!"

 

"We have to kill it with a Keyblade, idiot, otherwise it'll just _come back_!  Rox and Xi can handle it!"

 

They did, however, need some help - it was a _very_ strong Heartless.  But once it had been worn down enough, the Keybearers pooled their strength and came at it together.  "Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu!" they shouted, both remembering their fallen comrade, "Twilight Destiny Strike!"

 

"What?  That's not a Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu move," Yahiko muttered.

 

"Shut up, they're cute," Axel said.

 

The monster disappeared slowly, leaving a glowing heart shape behind.  Instead of fading, however, the light swelled into a blinding flash.  When everyone could see again, most of them exclaimed in surprise, shock, joy, or confusion.

 

Himura Kenshin looked around at them all with warm blue eyes, his ears properly rounded again and his heart beating in his chest.  "Oro?"

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

The three of them were in Twilight Town a lot later than usual, but ice cream on the clock tower was ice cream on the clock tower.  Axel wasn't going to complain.

 

"I still don't get how Xekshinn turned into a Somebody again," Roxas remarked.

 

"I think that was his Heartless," said Xion.

 

"Huh?"

 

"You know how Xekshinn always seemed sad even when he smiled all the time?"

 

"He did?"

 

Axel rolled his eyes affectionately at his friend's typical obliviousness.

 

"That Heartless cried a lot, too.  And it never took those swords out of its chest.  I think it wanted us to kill it."

 

"Why would a Heartless want us to kill it?"

 

"So it couldn't hurt people anymore."

 

"Oh."

 

"I don't think Xekshinn likes hurting people."

 

"Yeah."

 

They ate some more ice cream.

 

"So I guess we'll never see Xekshinn again, huh...."

 

Axel shrugged.  "We can still visit."

 

"Oh yeah.  With the machine you stole from the Itex building, right?"

 

"I prefer the term 'borrowed without permission'...and besides, they were bad guys."

 

"They were really strong," Roxas complained.  "I don't wanna go to that world again until I won't lose half my HP every time they shoot me."

 

"They shot you?!" Axel cried in alarm.

 

"Yeah.  It hurt."

 

"Aaaahhh...!"

 

"I'm okay, though."

 

"Guns are really dangerous, Roxas.  Be careful around them, okay?"

 

"Okay."

 

"Tomoe wanted to stay with Xekshinn in Tokyo even though she's from Twilight Town," Xion said thoughtfully.  "Do you think she and Enishi will be happy there, Axel?"

 

Axel shrugged.  "Well, she _is_ with her true love.  And Enishi'd been whining about exploring other worlds, anyway; they'll be fine."

 

"Oooohh - in the stories, when they find their true love and beat the bad guy, they live happily ever after.  Are they gonna live happily ever after, Axel?"

 

He chuckled.  "As long as they're with people they love, they'll live happily ever after."

 

Xion smiled.  "Just like us."

 

Roxas was looking at Axel hopefully, too.  Axel grinned at the sunset and murmured, "Yeah.  They'll love each other forever, just like us."

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes:  Lol, if Aerith can waltz around Kingdom Hearts even though she got killed in Final Fantasy VII, Tomoe can, too. XD :heart:

 

The Heartless/Nobody joke - it probably shouldn't work because it's only funny in English, and Kenshin's speaking Japanese, but whatever. *sweatdrop*

 

Perfect as Kenshin is, I think he actually _does_ have plenty of darkness in his heart.  Guilt and grief, mostly, but also a bit of pride and shame.  Stuff like that.

 

So, I promised my friend The Layman a giftfic back in the middle of July 2012.  I had NO IDEA it would take this long to fulfill my promise, or that it would be this difficult ._.  Everything I tried to write for him kept failing for one reason or another, and I started to despair.

 

Finally, finally finally finally, after a whole year, I was _finally_ successful.  I drafted most of this fic during a trip I took in June 2013 and I finished it at the beginning of July, though it took me another month to get it all typed.  The only way I was able to write RuroKen was by focusing on the only four RK characters who still give me any enjoyment to write about, particularly my beloved Yukishiros.  I actually dislike the Sano/Megumi pairing, but included it for my friend's sake; sorry it didn't get more screentime, man. :/  And, lol, Kenshin/Kaoru, a pairing which KK fans and trolls ruined for me by the numerous idiotic anonymous comments they've sent me over the years - first I meant to let Kaoru get eaten by darkness, then I planned to kill her off before the story started, but I didn't even want her name to appear, so I finally decided that Kamiya Kaoru simply does not exist in my headcanon at all.  Simplifies things.

 

Anyway, so after way too many failed ideas, I finally found one that I think decently 'matched' my friend (rather than just being something I like), and which I was _actually capable of finishing_.  Lots of KH of course, because it would have been another fail otherwise.  And I threw in some Max Ride even though I'm not a big fan, both because my friend likes it and because it was helpful to me in a certain regard. XD  That part was more fun to write than I expected (though it was just a one-time thing, I won't be doing anymore MR fanfiction).

 

...I hope you like the fic, Layman.  Even if it was exactly what you had asked for (which this story is _totally not_ XD) and the Best Fanfic Ever, it still wouldn't excuse the wait; but better late than never...maybe...?


	11. Failed giftfics for The Layman

Failed giftfics for The Layman

 

**L.g. fail 2**

**A Kingdom Hearts / Rurouni Kenshin crossover fanfic by Raberba girl**

[Summary:  Missions in this alternate universe are a little different. Axel's not the only redhead. Roxas finds this villain vaguely familiar. Xion's found a girl like her who can kick butt yet is nicer than Larxene. Hopefully the trio can figure out in time how to fight in a universe where people bleed instead of sparkle.]

 

o.o.o

 

Something was different when Roxas woke up, but he could not figure out what it was.  After sitting in bed staring for a while, he finally gave up and shuffled sleepily to the bathroom.  Where he saw Lexaeus.

 

"...Oh.  Your hair's spikier than usual, Lekuseusu.  And your chin's kind of pointy."  Roxas said this in Japanese rather than the English he had actually intended, which surprised him a little.  Oh well.

 

The Silent Hero glanced at him, then away again without speaking.  This might have had something to do with the fact that he was brushing his teeth, but then again, maybe not.  Roxas shrugged and continued on his way.

 

In the kitchen, Axel and Xion were putting together rice, miso, eggs, and fish, which was a rather unusual breakfast but for some reason strangely appetizing to Roxas this morning.

 

" _Ohay_ _ô_ _gozaimasu, Rokusasu-kun_!" Xion called brightly.

 

"You're speaking Japanese, too," Roxas observed (in Japanese).

"Yeah, something's up today," Axel said (also in Japanese).

"Your hair looks weird today, Akuseru.  And Shion looks cuter than usual."

 

"I _what_?" Xion gasped.

 

Axel chuckled.  "Yeah, you do."  He ruffled her hair as she blushed.  "Softer, kind of, and your hair's more flowy.  Not to mention both you guys' eyes are _even huger than usual_."

 

"I...I think you look nice, too, Akuseru-san...."

 

"What's going on?" Roxas asked Axel.

 

"Try saying something in English."

 

"Something in English."  Roxas frowned.  "Something in English," he tried again.  Once more, it came out in Japanese.  " _I'm saying something in English_ ," he said determinedly.  In Japanese.

 

Axel grinned a little.  "See?"

 

"Why can't I speak English!?"

 

"No clue.  I'll ask Saikusu when we go check in."

 

When they got to the Grey Area, Larxene was screaming (in Japanese) for Demyx to shut up, but of course he was ignoring her and kept right on strumming and singing, _"Shitaaru ga suki da, shitaaru ga suki da, shitaaru ga suki da, suki da, dokoka iku, oheyo!"_

 

"Geez, that song is annoying enough in English," Axel grumbled.

 

Vexen was yelling at the smirking Xigbar, "I'm telling you, it _wasn't my fault_ this time!"  Zexion had apparently roped Luxord into helping him compare data feeds ("No, _leave_ the dice there, you're supposed to be holding my place on those charts"), and a fed-up (and rather girly-looking) Saïx was growling at Xaldin, "We _can't_ call a meeting until we have more to actually report on, which is why everyone is doing recon today."

 

"The issue," Xaldin rumbled, "is that you're wasting resources and thus slowing down the process--"

 

"I'm not going to fling lone individuals into such a complete unknown and risk them getting killed--"

 

"D'aww, Sai-kun, you care," Axel laughed.

 

Saïx glared.  "If anyone gets lost, you're the one who'll pick up the slack.  Where have you been?"

 

"Eating breakfast.  Which I'm going to guess you were freaking out too much to bother with today; HAH, who's the 'irresponsible anorexic' now, huh?"

 

"I don't have time for your nonsense.  We've somehow ended up translated into an alternate universe, and have not yet discovered how to set things right.  Vikusen and Zekushion have managed to provide us with a few preliminary details.  You, Akuseru, are to accompany the Keybearers to Meiji Tôkyô and collect as much information on that world as you possibly can."

 

"Hai, hai," Axel sighed, adding in a very quiet grumble, "Aiza wouldn't have been too busy to banter...."  He glanced at the very curious Roxas and Xion.  "Never mind.  Let's go, kiddos."

 

As they were prepping their panel arrangements and then heading into the dark corridor, they heard Saïx telling the others, "Demikkusu, cease at once, today is not one to be wasting.  I need you and Lakushiinu at Seiso Academy--"

 

"Whaaaat?"

 

"I am NOT going on a mission with _him_!"

 

"Or I could send you to Neo Crystal Tôkyô," Saïx threatened.

 

"Eep!"

 

"NO!"

 

"We'll be good!"

 

"Hmph.  To continue:  Vikusen and Lukusôdo, I'm sending you to Amestris; and Zekushion, you will be accompanying Maaluusha to Ouran Academy...."

 

The dark corridor ended in a pretty world close to the sort of old-fashioned civilization Roxas had seen in some parts of the Land of Dragons, or an un-sandy and not-as-unbearably-hot version of Agrabah.  "I think our coats stand out more than usual here...."

 

"Vikusen keeps saying stuff about it being a stealth operation," Xion said, "but I don't think it's very stealthy to go around in these big black coats when no one else is."

 

"You have a point," Axel agreed.  "You wanna go steal someone's laundry?"

 

"What?"

 

"No!"

 

"Guess we're stuck being sore thumbs, then."

 

Roxas rummaged through his backpack until he found the notebook he used for recon missions, and started taking notes.  "No snow, so it's not winter; grass is still green so it's not dead of summer; ummm...."

 

"We don't have to do the analyzing part right now, do we?" Xion ventured.  "We can wait 'til the end to try to make it mean something...."

 

"Yeah."

 

They wandered through town, earning weird looks and taking more notes.  Someone tried to pick Xion's pocket at one point - she whipped out her Keyblade and Strike Raided him into dropping the handful of munny before he got far.  After that, the townspeople seemed to warily keep their distance except a group of random thugs who stepped into their way to pick a fight.  They only made it about a quarter of the way through their preliminary arrogant boasting before Axel got bored and casually Flip-Footed them.

 

The thugs didn't realize what had happened until they charged at him and found themselves running in the opposite direction.  Roxas and Xion were nearly crying with laughter as the thugs first furiously, then with growing confusion and horror, kept trying to stab Axel with illegal blades and even just straight-out punching him, but every single one of their movements were reversed.

 

"Had enough?" the Flurry of Dancing Flames asked cheerfully.  "Because we can actually fight if you want, but I'd hate to have to kill you in front of the kids here...."  He couldn't help glancing at said kids to make sure they assumed he was joking (they did).

 

The thugs yelled for him to quit playing dirty and fight like a man.

 

"Oh, _he's_ the one fighting dirty?" an annoyed young voice piped up.  Roxas and Xion watched curiously as a boy, younger than them and with hair that was spiky but less wild than Roxas's, pushed through the crowd and faced the thugs with a strong stance.

 

"Butt out, kid," one of the thugs started to growl, but then another elbowed him uneasily.

 

"Oi...it's that Myôjin punk."

 

"What?" Thug #1 said in irritation.

 

"The one who's always hanging out at... _That_ Dôjô."

 

The whole group of thugs suddenly looked as if the wind had dropped out of their sails.

 

"Forget Kenshin," the boy snapped.  " _I_ could take on all four of you losers by myself.

 

_*permanently incomplete*_

 

Author's Notes:  Sorry if I failed at translating Dr. Bombay's "My Sitar" into Japanese.... *sweatdrop*

 

Seiso Academy is the school where the music-heavy series _La Corda d'Oro_ takes place.

Marluxia would totally fit in at Ouran. XD XD 

xXxXxXxXxXx

 

**L.g. fail 5**

**A Maximum Ride fanfic by Raberba girl**

 

Okay, THIS is why I never let the boys (or Angel) go grocery shopping.

 

"What _exactly_ do you think is even the tiniest bit nutritional about _this_?" I asked, waving the bag of cheese puffs.  I mean,

 

_*permanently incomplete*_

 

xXxXxXxXxXx

 

**L.g. fail 6**

**A Rurouni Kenshin / Kingdom Hearts crossover fanfic by Raberba girl**

 

Summary:  Rurouni Kenshin characters written into the plot of _Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days_.

 

o.o.o

 

The boy woke up.

 

He sat there for a while, blinking around at the silvery-white room.  Then he slowly got out of bed and stood up.  _'Where...am I...?'_   A pause.  _'_ Who _am I?'_   He couldn't remember.  A boy, that's all he knew.  And...pain...green...voices...a salty sweet taste...and the sun...that was it.

 

"...."  He had the feeling he should be more worried about his failure to remember, but he didn't actually care much about anything right now.

 

The boy finally left the room and wandered around until he reached a room with other people in it.  All of them wore black coats, just like he did.

 

The woman with the most unzipped zipper wrinkled her nose when she saw the boy.  "Eww...it's awake."

 

"Hmph."  The man with hair like a bamboo curtain glanced at the boy in shrewd assessment, then away again in disinterest.

 

"Good morning, Number XIII," the woman at the head of the room said politely.

 

The red-haired man standing by the window near her turned to face the boy and smiled.  "It is good to see you awake, Yahiko, that it is."

 

The boy's brow furrowed a little.  "Ya...hiko...?"

 

"He doesn't even remember his own name," the unzipped woman grumbled.

 

The lady at the front laid her hand gently on Yahiko's head.  Her voice was quiet as she said, "The Superior told us that he named the boy himself only seven days ago, and that the child has been mostly unconscious in the meantime.  His sense of self-awareness is still developing."

 

"Not a child," Yahiko managed to protest in a mumble.

 

The red-haired man smiled.  There was something familiar about that smile.  And something sad about it, too.  "No one here is a child, it is true."

 

"Do you think he'll be able to attend the meeting?" the woman asked him in a low voice.

 

"We shall bring him along and see.  This one will be happy to take charge of him, Tomoe."

 

"Thank you, Himura-san."  She started to turn back to her clipboard, meaning to mark the attendance sheet, but she caught the way Kenshin was looking at her.  "What is it?"

 

"It makes this one uneasy to hear such an address from you," he said softly.

 

_*permanently incomplete*_

 

Author's Notes:  The "unzipped woman"/Larxene was Yumi. :p

 

Kenshin meant that he doesn't like hearing Tomoe use honorifics for him.  And seeing as how AkuSai is my OTP, and their roles are being played by my favorite romance pairing ever, there would obviously have been lots of Kenshin/Tomoe in this. XD 

xXxXxXxXxXx

 

**L.g. fail 7**

**A Kingdom Hearts / Rurouni Kenshin crossover fanfic by Raberba girl**

 

Axel paused in the middle of the dark street, listening to the very faint sound of distant screams.  His brow furrowed, but just as he was making up his mind to go investigate, he was startled by a high-pitched shriek bursting out behind him.  "Hitokiri Battousai!"

 

"What the--?!"  Axel turned to find an adorable young girl, about thirteen or fourteen years old, glaring at him with ferocity to rival a hawk's.  Her grip on the weapon pointed at him was firm and experienced, despite her youth and small stature.

 

"I will _not_ let you kill another soul!  Surrender NOW, murderer!"

 

"...What the freak."  Somehow, the raging death threats made her even cuter.  "Does your mom know you're breaking curfew?"

 

She gasped as if injured.  "You heartless--!  _Thunder_!"

 

Axel, distracted by trying to figure out why the term 'heartless' was giving him a vague sense of déjà vu, dodged a bit too slowly, and yelped as a bolt of lightning sizzled through him.  "You little brat!  You don't know who you're messing with, do you."  He flung out his arms to summon a ring of fire, and then his flaming...reversed-edge katana?  What?

 

Axel stared at the chakrams he held and thought that there was something very wrong here.  He had battled through the Bakumatsu with a samurai's blade, nothing like these weapons.  He didn't remember ever seeing them in his life.  Yet they fit in his palms as if he'd been born holding them, and he knew exactly what to do with them....

 

"I don't care who you are."  The fire in the girl's eyes had faded, leaving a grim resolve.  Her grip on the giant gold and silver key had not wavered.  "I _will_ stop you, Battousai."

 

"Stop me from _what_?"  He'd just walked into this town, and hadn't done a thing other than rest for a little while.

 

The girl suddenly lifted her head.  Axel realized that the cries were closer - she must have heard them.

 

"What's happening over there?" she demanded.

 

"As if I'd know!"

 

"Hmph.  You stay put, Battousai!"  She cast an ice spell at him and then took off in the direction of the commotion.

 

Axel easily melted the level 1 ice trapping his feet and then glanced in the direction his opponent had raced.  "Lively town, huh...."  He shook his head, then dismissed his weapons and loped off toward the cries, wondering (as always) why it felt like there was a faster way to travel that he'd forgotten.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

Sanosuke followed the magic creepy tunnel and found himself in the sleepy sunny world.  To be more precise, in the woods outside the mansion.  "Sooo...is this another mission, or...?"

 

No answer from the spiky-haired kid, who just stood there silently with his head bowed, swaying a little.  "...You got a name, at least?"

 

"...."

 

"...Well, whatever. Let's call you Yahiko.  You look like a Yahiko to me."

 

"...."

 

"...Hm.  Kenshin likes to hang out here, doesn't he?  Maybe he'll know what to do with you."  Sanosuke didn't like the idea of dragging an unprotected zombie kid through the creepy magic tunnels, so they went the long way, through town and up the steps until they reached the top of the clock tower.  Sanosuke soon got impatient with the kid's zombie pace and ended up carrying him.  "Yo, Kenshin."

 

The red-haired assassin looked up and smiled at him.  "Hello, Sano."

 

"Heh, I shouldn't let you get away with callin' your boss nicknames...."  He sat the kid down beside Kenshin.  There was a long pause.

 

"Would you like to stay?" Kenshin asked half-heartedly, already knowing the response.

 

"I don't think I should, but...."  Sanosuke suddenly frowned and plopped down on Kenshin's other side.  There was another pause.

 

Then both men sighed.  "How can something feel totally right and totally wrong at the same time?"

 

"This one wishes he knew....  So we shall see each other at the next meeting, then?"

 

"Guess so."  Sanosuke hopped back to his feet.  "See you later, Kenshin."

 

"See you later, Sano."

 

"By the way, I've been calling him Yahiko."

 

"All right."

 

"I guess I can ask around and see if his family here is looking for him."  It was a more appealing prospect than going to visit the creepy heart-shaped moon.  It already invaded his thoughts enough, he didn't need to go _asking_ it things.

 

"That sounds like a good idea, that it does."  When they were alone, Kenshin smiled down at the boy.  "Hello, young one."

 

"Not a 'young one,'" the boy mumbled.

 

"Of course.  Yahiko.  Are you satisfied with that name?"

 

"...."

 

"...This one suffers from a strange compulsion to buy sea-salt ice cream that he has little taste for.  Would you like to have this, instead?"

 

Yahiko did not speak again that entire afternoon, but he did eat the entire ice cream bar Kenshin offered him, and licked the sweet salt off his fingers afterward.

 

o.o.o.o.o

 

"Fang!  For the last time, _put_ the ninja comics down, and enough with the video games, Gazzy."

 

"They're samurai, not ninja," Fang said, frowning at me over the top edge of the comic book.  "Kenshin's not even a samurai, anyway."

 

"Whatever.  Gasman, let's _go_!"

 

"Five more minutes!" he cried frantically.  "I've almost beat this stupid Ruler of the Sky!"

 

"Whatever.  Nudge found some new info, and we need you guys' help...."

 

_*permanently incomplete*_

 

Author's Notes:  Xion got upset at Axel because her mother passed away, and she mistakenly thought he was taunting her about it.  Sanosuke was playing Xemnas's role, since I _could not_ think of anything better for him. *sweatdrop*  And the AkuShi in this would have been platonic.

 

xXxXxXxXxXx

 

Authors Notes:  Although I'm never going to finish these stories as originally intended, I still might play around with or reuse some ideas I had for them; I dunno.

 

In the summer of 2012, I took it into my head to write giftfics for my seven best friends at the time (I now have an eighth one XD), and Layman was second on my priority list because I've known him the second-longest.  Yet his fic ended up being the penultimate one to be posted - it took me _eight tries_ and an entire year before I was finally successful ._.  I still have no idea why it was so difficult; even my aversion to writing for RK doesn't fully account for it.

 

The original request was for a canon-based Rurouni Kenshin humor fic, with a specific Kingdom Hearts scene as an epilogue.  It failed before I even started writing it, partially because I hate writing for RuroKen and partially because, even when I _did_ love writing RK, almost every single one of my stories was AU.  I just don't feel comfortable writing a period piece based on real history, I don't know enough about it.

 

The second try was a Kingdom Hearts / Rurouni Kenshin crossover, since we both figured I'd do better with my beloved KH.  So I started writing, and did all right through the KH opening, but almost as soon as it came time to write some RK stuff, I got writer's block. X'D  Once again thwarted by Writing For RK Sucks + I Have No Clue What I'm Talking About.

 

The third and fourth tries are not posted here, since I actually like them enough to try to eventually (likely in the faaaar future...) finish them.  The problem with those was that they felt too much like R.girl Fics, not Fics R.girl Wrote For Layman.  One is canon-based AkuSaiRokuShi, the other is AU AkuSaiJazRokuShi, both non-crossover KH.

 

The fifth try was when it occurred to me to take a totally different approach and write a Maximum Ride fic for Layman, so I asked him for ideas.  They were good ideas, but unfortunately, I wrote about two lines before realizing that I can't write MR fanfiction. XD

 

The sixth and seventh tries were KH/RK crossovers again.  I wanted to write the RK characters into the KH Days plot; and I also tried writing both sets of characters into each other's plots (though in this case, the switch was actually in-universe, and they would have figured things out and fixed everything by the end).  I think both of those failed because I realized I wouldn't have the time, motivation, or patience to make it through the entire plot. *sweatdrop*  And they both would have been a bit lame as giftfics, anyway.

 

The eighth and only successful try came out of nowhere, after I'd given up and was considering a story for _The Light In Their Eyes_.  I'm not even sure what inspired the idea - I _think_ I was considering that Layman likes Sano/Megumi, and I thought of a wedding, and making it interesting by having it invaded by monsters or something, and of course my thoughts jumped pretty quickly to Heartless, and then the rest of the plot became obvious.  I started the story without high hopes, and was pretty surprised both when it flowed well, and when I ACTUALLY FINISHED IT.  Yaaaayyy, success at last. X3


	12. Unlost: Borrow (prompt 13) {Kenshin/Tomoe & Kenji, modern AU}

**_Unlost_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic series by Raberba girl**

**Borrow (prompt 13, table one) [rough draft]**

 

Summary:  Kenshin had an unexpected adventure.

 

o.o.o

 

Kenshin wondered for a second why he had apparently spent the night on the couch.  Then he sat up with a gasp as the previous night's events came flooding into his memory:  being shot at, running for his life, being scared out of his wits, strangely having more fun than he'd ever had in his life....

 

And The Woman.

 

"Oro," he gasped.  "I have a gorgeous female sleeping in my bed....

 

Or had it all been a dream?

 

Just as he was scrambling to his feet, the door opened and his younger brother came barging into the apartment.  "Oi, Niisan!  Mom ticked me off again, so I'm hanging out with you today."

 

"Kenji!  Keep it down!" Kenshin hissed.

 

"You got anything I'd actually eat?" Kenji continued as if he hadn't heard, sailing into the kitchen and noisily starting to go through the cabinets.

 

"Kenji!"  Kenshin hurried over and shut the cabinet Kenji had just opened.  "Shut _up_.  There's--"

 

"What's your problem?" the fifteen-year-old said indignantly.

 

"Kenji...there's a woman in my bedroom."

 

" _What_?!"

 

"At least, I think there is...."

 

"What are you talking about?!  I thought you said you don't bring girls home!"

 

"I didn't bring her--!  I mean, it's not like that, I just--!  _Oro_!" Kenshin exclaimed in exasperation.  "Just stop _yelling_."

 

"What do you mean you _think_ there's a girl in your room?"

 

"I haven't checked yet to see if I was dreaming or not."

 

"You idiot!"

 

Before Kenshin could stop him, Kenji marched over to the bedroom door and opened it - then froze.  Kenshin, right on his heels, felt his jaw drop as he beheld the lovely figure now flinging back her long, silky hair after having just finished combing it.  She was even more beautiful than he remembered.  The faint scent of hakubaikô filled the air as she watched them, leisurely tying back her hair.  She was clad in one of Kenshin's T-shirts and almost nothing else.  He was a slender man, and she seemed to be slightly taller than him; the shirt stretched around her curves and did not cover much of her thighs.

 

"T-Tomoe-dono," Kenshin whispered in awe, luckily managing to stop himself before adding, _so you're_ not _just a dream._

 

"If it's not too much trouble," she murmured, in a tone that left no room for him to refuse, "I should like to borrow your shirt, Himura-san.  Mine is no longer even fit for cleaning rags."

 

Kenshin could see the torn, bloodied garment on the floor of the master bathroom.  "You can keep it," he said quickly.

 

She was stepping into her pants now, not seeming to care that the young men caught a glimpse of her underwear for a second, or to notice the little sound Kenji made in response.

 

"Oro!" Kenshin gasped, red-faced and far too late, "w-we should give you some privacy, that we should--"

 

"No need."  Tomoe picked the guns off the bed and tucked them away.  "I'll be taking my leave now."  She approached the bedroom door, and both men hurriedly backed out of her way, but she paused before passing Kenshin and regarded him for a moment.  He tried to meet her gaze and not squirm.  He wasn't used to being scrutinized by women so obviously out of his league.  "...I suppose you'll need a reward for helping and sheltering me."

 

"N-No, not at all!  I was happy to help; please, don't feel in the least obligated, I--  Please."

 

There was a pause, then she reached out with delicate fingers and took hold of his chin, as if to more closely examine his face.  Kenshin held his breath, and Kenji watched with wide eyes.

 

"...A part of me wishes I could take advantage of your hospitality a bit longer," Tomoe murmured.  Then, before Kenshin could decide what this meant, she was kissing him.

 

Kenji watched, envious and awed, wondering after a while if his brother and the lady were about to start moving toward the bed.  But then Kenshin pulled away, gasping for air, and let her watch him, as he looked back at her like she was a prize he was afraid to touch.

 

"...Well," she said at last, stepping back, "thank you."

 

"Thank you," Kenshin managed to whisper.

 

The brothers followed her to the door, stopping abruptly when she looked back at them at the threshold.  "Good-bye."

 

An impulse came over him.  She'd probably shoot him down immediately, but he wanted to at least try.  "Tomoe-dono...feel free to keep the shirt, as I said, but...if you...ever feel so inclined...to return it--  _Personally_ ," he added quickly, "then...I would, um, look forward to it."  He immediately winced at his own audacity and looked away, so only Kenji saw her little smile.

 

"...Is that so, Himura-san."

 

"Y...Yes."

 

She chuckled softly and turned away again.  "So would I."

 

"What?!" Kenshin gasped, hardly able to believe it, but she was already gone.

 

There was a long silence.  Then both Himuras burst into hysterical laughter.

 

"Heh, she looks better in your shirt than you do."

 

"She does, doesn't she...."

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Note:  I wrote this back at the beginning of June 2013, but it took me eight months to actually get it typed and posted. *sweatdrop*

 

The people who are fine with me making Kenshin & Kenji brothers, yet can't stand it when I make Tomoe & Kenji mother and son, are total hypocrites. *eyeroll*

 

Complete:  8/100


	13. Lunch Date with a Hitokiri {Kenshin & Tomoe, modern AU}

**Lunch Date with a Hitokiri (rough draft)**

**A Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl**

 

Summary:  Kenshin finds some unexpected mercy.

 

o.o.o

 

The young woman could have killed him, but she didn't.

 

Kenshin had tumbled into the conference room and slammed the door shut, then stood there trying to still his breathing as he listened to his pursuers running and yelling through the hallways outside.  He closed his eyes for a moment and exhaled in relief.  Then he opened his eyes again and turned around to get his bearings - and froze in horror when he saw her sitting there, looking at him gravely, her hands gone still over the papers spread before her on the table.

 

Kenshin swallowed.  "I...ah...."

 

"Himura Battousai-san, is it?" she said quietly, as if they had merely just been introduced at a business meeting.

 

Kenshin winced at the assassin's name, but it wasn't like he could give her his real one.  "This one is easily recognized, that he is," he said ruefully.  He briefly touched his hair, which had come tumbling down from the hat he had used earlier to conceal it, and thought of the bandage that had been earlier torn away from his cheek, revealing the lurid scars beneath.

 

"It seems so."

 

They looked at each other for a minute.

 

"So," Kenshin said awkwardly, "we seem to be...at an impasse, that we are."

 

"Why would you say that?" she said calmly, without a trace of fear in her dark eyes.  If anything, she looked a little bored.  "Can't you simply silence me and go your way in safety?"

 

Kenshin clenched his teeth together.  "Why didn't you scream?" he whispered.  "When you saw this one, and realized who he was?  Even now, a word from you will bring them quickly."

 

"Why didn't you kill me?" she countered.  "When you saw me, and realized I could betray you?  Even now, you hesitate as if the Hitokiri Battousai has qualms against spilling blood."

 

He glared, even as he admired her quick mind, her ironic echo of his own words.  "Just because this one is an assassin does not mean he enjoys killing."

 

The young woman nodded.  "And there, I believe, lies the answer to your own question as well as mine."  As if she had all the time in the world, she gathered up her papers, tucked them into various colored folders, and slipped them into her briefcase.  Then she rose and approached, stopping a decent distance away to bow politely in greeting.  "I am Tomoe.  It's a pleasure to meet you."

 

"L-Likewise," Kenshin stammered automatically.  "To...Tomoe-dono...."  It felt wrong to address her by her given name, but she had offered no other.

 

"Hm...."  She came straight up to him, studied him for a while, then said, "This will not do."

 

"Pardon?"

 

A few minutes later, they came walking out of the conference room together:  she carrying his coat as if it was hers; he with makeup covering the scars, and his distinctive hair concealed under the hood of her own coat.  He was amazed at how easy it was to simply go down the stairs and stroll out onto the sidewalk.

 

He turned to her, nearly speechless with gratitude.  "Tomoe-dono...how can this one - ever repay you?"

 

"I suppose you could pay for my lunch."

 

"Pardon?"

 

"That restaurant down the street usually has nice specials."

 

"Oh...."  He gave a hesitant smile, and finally held out his arm.  "Well, then, my lady?"

 

She rested her arm in his, and, to his astonishment, offered a small smile of her own.

 

That lunch date, as well as the smile, turned out to be the first of many.

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes:  This is a SUPER-OLD fic, most of which I wrote several years ago.  It was supposed to be significantly longer, but the partial draft got abandoned when I tried to give up writing RuroKen fanfiction.  Now that my muse apparently refuses to completely leave the RuroKen fandom, I finally decided to just tack a quick ending onto what I'd written and post the story as an _Unlost_ installment.


	14. Unlost: Confused (prompt 67) {Xion & Enishi, Kingdom Hearts / Rurouni Kenshin crossover}

**_Unlost_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin / Kingdom Hearts crossover fanfic series by Raberba girl**

**Confused** **(prompt** **67** **, table one) [rough draft]**

 

Summary: Enishi tries out his sister's suggestion.

 

o.o.o

 

Xion loved Twilight Town. She loved it better when she wasn't injured and sweating while fighting a ferocious monster who was trying to kill her, but even being in the middle of a boss battle couldn't entirely dampen her spirits.

 

"I have to go on!" Xion surged into her limit break, destroyed the Heartless, and felt exhilarated when she landed. "Yaaayyy...now for ice cream...I hope that Roxas or Axel still have some healing panels left...."

 

She dismissed her Keyblade, collected the goodies that the Heartless had dropped, then headed off to the ice cream shop. She nearly ran right into someone when they rounded the same corner at the same time. "Ah!"

 

The man was tall and kind of scary-looking, looming over her like that with such a forbidding look on his face. Xion shrank back a little as she looked at his hard, ice-cold eyes. "Um...sorry," she said meekly.

 

"You're a girl," he said in a flat voice.

 

"Uh...yes?"

 

To her surprise, he raised his arm, apparently offering her the flowers he was holding. She stared at them in confusion.

 

"Take them, stupid," he finally said.

 

"Those are...for me?"

 

"Ugh. Yes."

 

She uncertainly accepted the flowers. "Thank you." Weren't people supposed to be nicer when they gave gifts?

 

The man crossed his arms. "That made me feel _so_ much better."

 

"You don't...look like you feel better...."

 

"I was being sarcastic."

 

Ah. 'Sarcasm.' Axel had tried to explain that to them once. She and Roxas still didn't really get it, but hadn't wanted to tell Axel that. "Then what _would_ make you feel better for real?"

 

"Having my sister back," he answered immediately.

 

"Where did she go?"

 

Now he looked even scarier. Xion had a very strange thought that he was about to cry, but of course that couldn't be right.

 

"Is she not coming back?"

 

"Shut up."

 

"You're kind of mean."

 

She was surprised when he laughed.

 

"Do you _like_ being mean?"

 

"I just am. I'm _this_. I don't know why she thought I could change by doing stupid things like giving flowers to girls or saving puppies or whatever, but...." He sighed deeply and leaned against the wall.

 

"...Do you want some ice cream?"

 

"What's ice cream?"

 

She gaped at him. Xion was very, very not used to knowing anything that an adult didn't. "It's-- It's like-- It's _ice cream_! It's good. Sweet and salty at the same time."

 

He seemed to perk up suddenly. It made him look a lot nicer. "It's blue ice?"

 

"Yes!"

 

"...I want it."

 

"I'll show you where they sell it."

 

Yukishiro Enishi followed after the Organization's Number XIV and decided that this giving-flowers-to-girls experience hadn't been too bad, and he'd probably even do it again sometime.

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes: I've been wanting to write this plot bunny for a long time, and now I finally got my chance~

 

Complete: 9/100


	15. Unlost: Peace (prompt 16) {Xion & Enishi, Kingdom Hearts / Rurouni Kenshin crossover}

**_Unlost_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin / Kingdom Hearts crossover fanfic series by Raberba girl**

**Peace** **(prompt** **16** **, table one) [rough draft]**

 

Summary: Enishi & Xion bond over ice cream. Sequel to "Sunrise" and "Confused."

 

o.o.o

 

Enishi and Xion didn't meet up for ice cream very often. She was busy with work and her own friends, and he found that exploring this vast multiverse was an effective distraction from grief. However, they did find opportunity to get together from time to time, and the more they spoke to each other, the more comfortable they became.

 

"She sounds really nice," Xion said, after Enishi had told her about something his sister had done for him when they were children.

 

"She was," Enishi said softly. "She was...the kindest person I've ever known."

 

"You miss her a lot, don't you."

 

"Of course I do," he said in annoyance. "Why wouldn't I?"

 

"Uh...I dunno. If I lost someone like that, I'd be really sad, too."

 

He sighed. "I feel like there's an empty hole in my heart that'll never be filled. Like I'll feel like this forever. That I'll never, ever be happy, because this world is not worth living in when she's not in it."

 

That couldn't be right. Xion hadn't even known Tomoe, but she still loved living. There were a lot of good things about these worlds. _'I wonder why Enishi can't see it.'_ "Do you have any friends, Enishi?"

 

He snorted in derision. "No."

 

"Well...why not?"

 

"Do I seem particularly sociable to you? _You're_ the closest thing to a friend I've ever had."

 

That gave her pause. "Are we friends, then?"

 

"Guess not," he said sourly.

 

"I mean...I like talking to you and eating ice cream with you. I really like talking to Roxas and Axel and eating ice cream with them, too. They're my friends, so you are, too, right?"

 

He shrugged and took another bite of ice cream.

 

"It's just that...I used to feel empty, too...so, so empty.... But when I met Roxas, and then Axel, it was like the more I spent time with them, the more filled up I got. I can...still kind of feel the hole here," she said, laying her hand over her chest, "but it's like far away now. I can only feel it if I try, or if I'm alone for too long."

 

"I'm always alone," Enishi realized. He stared down at his ice cream. "I...." _'Have I just been lying around waiting all this time? Waiting for what?'_ Maybe he hadn't found peace yet because he hadn't tried looking for it. "I meet so many people in these worlds...so, so many...." He twirled the ice cream stick idly in his fingers. "I should keep up with them, shouldn't I. Talk to them more, find out about them, try to see them again whenever I come back...."

 

"I'm not supposed to do that because I'm...uh, because of my job. But I think you can do that, Enishi. I think most people _do_ do that."

 

 _'Friends are never, ever going to make up for what I lost.'_ Enishi finished his ice cream. _'But I bet they couldn't hurt.'_

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes: _Technically_ it's already February 27th, but this story still counts for the 26th because I haven't gone to bed yet. X'D

 

And darn, I'd hoped to get a lot of typing done while my stockpile lasted, but I didn't, so I'm back to having nothing ready to post ahead of time. *facepalm*

****

Complete: 10/100


	16. Unlost: Baby (prompt 76) {Kenji & Enishi, modern AU}

**_Unlost_ ** **, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic series by Raberba girl for the 100_situations community on LiveJournal**

**Baby** **(prompt** **76** **, table one) [rough draft]**

 

Summary: Bad as it's been for Kenji ever since he lost his parents, Enishi has had it worse. Modern AU.

 

o.o.o

 

 _'This is a mistake.'_ The thought kept looping through Kenji's mind as he trudged up the stairs to his uncle's apartment. He hadn't seen or heard from Enishi in two years; he'd only found this place at all because of Saitou's help. _'This is a biiiiig mistake.'_

 

Kenji reached the door behind which Enishi presumably lived. He stood there for a long time, procrastinating. Finally he sighed and knocked loudly.

 

After a while, he knocked again.

 

He finally tried the knob, felt it turn, stared at the unlocked door for a minute, then shook his head and walked inside. "Enishi," he called. There was no answer.

 

The apartment was disgusting. Trash and empty bottles littered the floor, the air smelled bad, Kenji kept stepping in sticky patches.... None of the light switches worked when Kenji tried them.

 

Despite the mess, the apartment was empty. There was almost no furniture, nothing of value in sight. Even if someone did take advantage of the unlocked door, there was apparently nothing to steal.

 

An emaciated figure was curled close to one of the dirty windows. Enishi's tall frame didn't seem to have enough flesh to cover it; his bones were too easy to see beneath grimy, thin layers of skin. He made not the slightest sound or movement to acknowledge his nephew's presence.

 

Kenji moved close, holding his hand in front of Enishi's face for a minute to see if he was dead. He felt breath ghosting across his palm. He couldn't muster up any emotion in response, neither relief nor disappointment. "...Enishi, it's Kenji. I came to see you," he said dully. There was no response.

 

Kenji began moving around the apartment. He found a blanket, which smelled and felt dirty but would still offer some warmth. He laid it over Enishi's body, which was barely clothed. There was nothing edible in the kitchen, and no water came when Kenji tried the knobs on the kitchen sink. He finally returned to sit by his uncle, picked up a skeletal, ice-cold hand, and rubbed it between his own hands to warm it.

 

At last, Enishi stirred. Very slowly, he shifted his head, his eyes taking a long time to focus. "...Kenji?" he finally whispered with chapped, peeling lips.

 

"It's like you're already dead. You weren't nearly this bad when I left." Unexpected tears stung Kenji's eyes. "...I feel like I'm looking at a dead person, Enishi."

 

Enishi stirred again, seemed for a moment as if he was trying to sit up, to speak. Then he gave up. He sank back against the wall, his eyes resuming their vacant stare out the window.

 

"...You really did die when Mom did," Kenji said softly. He had lost both his parents when he was six years old. His uncle had taken him in, but the fights and the living situation had been so bad that Kenji had run away when he was thirteen, living with friends or on the streets for two years until he was old enough to be legally emancipated.

 

Now he was eighteen and had a decent job and a tiny apartment of his own and, at least up until three weeks ago, a girlfriend. He had a life. It sucked, but it was still a life.

 

Yet for Enishi...what little life that had remained, the spark of rage at the world that had kept him going, his sense of obligation to the only person he had ever loved that had motivated him to provide for her child as best he could...even that was gone now. "How long have you been like this?"

 

There was a long, long silence.

 

Just when Kenji was about to give up and call Saitou, Enishi squeezed his hand weakly. "Kenji." His voice was little more than a whisper, as fragile as the rest of him. "I remember...when you were a baby."

 

Kenji listened quietly.

 

"She was...so happy when you were born...." A frown slowly drew his eyebrows together, a pulse of emotion flickered briefly in his face. "Those idiots couldn't tell...no one could tell, just me and... _him_." In his tone was a suggestion of lingering resentment toward the man, Kenji's father, who had 'stolen' Tomoe's attention away from her brother. Yet there was no longer any force behind it, none of the venom Kenji remembered from his childhood. "We knew.... She didn't smile, those idiots thought she wasn't happy. But me and him, we could still see it."

 

Enishi squeezed Kenji's hand again, and his eyes slowly came to focus on him once more. "She loved you," he said. "So much." A tear slipped down his cheek. "I loved her...so much...."

 

"Yeah," Kenji said softly.

 

"...But I'm not going to see her again when I die."

 

After a while, Kenji finally said, "I don't want you to die."

 

Enishi gazed silently at him.

 

"Enishi...you're-- I hate you." Tears stung his eyes again, memories of so many fights. "I hate you, but you're...family. The only family I have left. I...I wouldn't really be sad if you died.... I've done just fine without you all this time, I--" His shoulders sagged. "I just...." It suddenly occurred to him what he was trying to say. "This isn't love."

 

Enishi's expression remained unchanged.

 

"This...letting yourself rot...wanting to die...it's not love. Mom would be _mad_ at you if she saw you like this."

 

"...She would," Enishi finally whispered.

 

Kenji squeezed his hand again. "...I don't like seeing you like this."

 

"...."

 

"You used to be so strong. You'd freak out a lot for stupid reasons, but you were still so...strong. I don't _like_ seeing you like this."

 

Enishi looked at him. It took a long time for Kenji to interpret his expression, because he couldn't believe what he was seeing: regret.

 

"My life has been so worthless," Enishi murmured.

 

"Well...you kept me from dying for seven years," Kenji grumbled. "I guess that counts for something."

 

"I wish she could see you."

 

"What?"

 

"I wish she could...see you. Grown up. Strong."

 

"I'm not strong," Kenji whispered. "I'm just less of a loser than you."

 

"I wish she could...." Enishi's eyes slid toward the window again. "She doesn't want me to die. What else am I supposed to do?"

 

"...If I go out and buy a hamburger for you, will you eat it?"

 

Enishi stared at him, uncomprehending.

 

"Food, Enishi. Water."

 

"...Don't take care of me. I'm not worth it."

 

"You're not worth anything," Kenji snapped. "You don't deserve my help, you didn't deserve my mom! It doesn't matter! You got to have Mom for a sister anyway, and I'm gonna help you anyway. If you'll let me. If you...." He looked away.

 

At last Enishi said, "I'll eat it. If you bring it."

 

"Okay," Kenji whispered. "Wait for me."

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes: I still think about Rurouni Kenshin off and on. The fandom is so depressing and makes me not want to write RK fanfiction, but tonight I randomly felt like taking a shot at it anyway.

 

Wish I could have thought of something more original, but this ended up just being yet another rehash of Enishi angst. -.-

 

Complete: 11/100


End file.
